


falling into your ocean eyes

by moonmotels



Category: American Horror Story, American Horror Story: Coven
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Coffee Shops, Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Hank lives don't matter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-11
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-01-11 07:58:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 42,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18426333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonmotels/pseuds/moonmotels
Summary: a falling in love at a coffee shop au with a twist.





	1. the fire that you started in me, you never came back to ask it out

_I think you're gonna change my plans_

_with those emerald eyes_

_and you don't even understand_

_just how far I dive_

Cordelia always settled for good enough.

Never perfect, never life changing, never mind blowing. Just, enough. Which is probably how she ended up with straight-laced, decently rugged Hank Foxx straight out of college. Sort of as a final ‘fuck you’ to her mother, Cordelia packed what little stuff she had at home and took a job as the headmistress of an academy in New Orleans, dragging Hank in tow like a human sized bundle of baggage. From there she created her comfortable life, enjoying the freedom of running her own school for girls with gifted talents. Hank just so happened to stick around for it. Which was fine, she supposed. It wasn’t like she was complaining.

He treated her well, never complained when she worked long hours, always remembered their anniversary. And Cordelia was comfortable with it. She couldn’t ask for much more, because what else could be out there? Lousy dates with men who had sweaty palms and just wanted to get laid? She was perfectly happy with what she had, thank you very much.

And it stayed that way, up until she wasn’t happy anymore.

It started with a particularly beautiful sunny day in New Orleans, and Cordelia wanted to take advantage of it by feeling the sun on her skin after what seemed like the longest work week of her life. Sitting on the floor of her closet, surrounded by dozens of items of clothing, she tried fruitlessly to find the one blouse she had in mind. She didn’t always dress up for Hank, but made it a point to make herself presentable every morning by seeing to it that her outfit was immaculate and her hair fell just right. Finally seeing a scrap of it out of the corner of her eye, she pulled the blouse over her thin frame and crawled over to the floor length mirror. Enjoying the way it hugged her curves and showed just enough cleavage, Cordelia smiled to herself that she could still be considered attractive, even if Hank did sometimes compare her to a hot mess.

Shuffling downstairs, she padded over to the couch where Hank sat, intensely involved in the game on tv. Running her hands over his shoulders down to his chest, she leaned down and inhaled into his neck from behind. “It’s such a nice day out, babe. You wanna go have a picnic or something?”

Hank barely wrenched his eyes from the scene on tv before replying, “Shit, Delia, the game’s on. You know that. Nick is coming by in a few. Remember?”

Cordelia didn’t remember, because Hank definitely hadn’t mentioned that.

She paused her movements, a swell of disappointment bubbling up inside her. “Yeah, I must have forgotten. You don’t have any time today?”

“No, babe. I told you this like, a week ago.” This wasn’t the first time he’d done this to her and it definitely wouldn’t be the last. He conveniently forgot a lot of things, and it was never his own fault. Always Cordelia’s. Hank’s invalidation at her reactions always started small fights, but she didn’t want today to be ruined so quickly after it had just begun. So she let him have this.

“Okay,” she straightened up. “I’ll go grocery shopping or something then.” Willing off tears that didn’t need to make themselves known, she smoothed her blouse down and proceeded to pander into the kitchen. Sometimes when Hank treated her as though she were a child, it hurt more than she let on. Especially now that she’d reached a point in her life where she yearned for that secure feeling everyone claimed to have with ‘the one.’ She was still waiting for that. Hoping she wouldn’t have to wait forever, she grabbed her reusable recycling bags.

Briefly pausing at Hank’s motionless position, she called out, “I’ll be back in a few, okay? There’s beers in the fridge for Nick.”

“Yeah, can you get more if you’re going out? That’d be great, babe.”

“Sure,” she said, then, sarcastically under her breath, “You can’t get off your ass and do it?”

“What was that?”

“Nothing, love you.”

“Mhm.”

Sighing, Cordelia pushed her way out the door and into the streaming sunlight. Thankful for the beautiful day and time off work, she forged her way into her car and connected to Bluetooth. Finding Coco’s name quickly in her recent calls, she dialed and put the car in reverse.

“Hi, babygirl, how are ya?”

“Hi, Co, I’m good. How are you?”

“Great, I had a date with this guy Tom last night. Did I tell you about him? Twice divorced, rugged, hung like a-“

“Spare me, please.” Cordelia laughed.

“I’m just saying. Sorry you’re like, practically married at this point and wouldn’t know what a good lay was if it smacked you in the face.”

“I’m quite content, thank you very much,” was Cordelia’s complacent reply.

Coco huffed out a laugh of disbelief, “Yeah, as if he could ever satisfy you the way you deserve, babe. Like, I get it, you love him and all but _Jesus_. There’s so many eligible people out there that would kill for a piece of your ass. Men and women. Take your pick.”

Despite the crassness, Cordelia smiled to herself before asking, “Co, what is your problem with Hank? He treats me just fine. I’m happy with him.” Her warm tone was a welcome distraction for Coco, who was used to Cordelia fiercely defending Hank as though he personally had put the stars in the sky. She thought it must be the weather, or maybe Cordelia had just woken up on the right side of the bed for once.

“I don’t have a problem with him per se, I just don’t think he treats you the way you deserve. You deserve like, mind numbing orgasms and being treated to fancy dinners five times a week. Not microwaved meals and boring sex once a month. Don’t you miss having fun?”

Musing for a moment, Cordelia considered Coco’s words. It’s not like she wasn’t _unsatisfied_ , she was an adult for God’s sake, she could take control over her own sexual experiences. But on the other hand, maybe she did deserve someone more attentive in bed. But truthfully, what more could she want? Hank was always right there with her, ready at the drop of a hat to tell her how sexy she was, how amazing she felt, how great she _fucked_ \- his compliments always circled right back to him and _his_ pleasure, not Cordelia’s.

Never Cordelia’s.

Snapping back into the moment, Cordelia replied, “We've been through this, there’s nothing lacking in my relationship. He loves me, and that’s it. End of argument.”

Coco sighed dramatically and Cordelia could practically hear her rhythmic nails tapping. “Yeah, whatever. Just don’t ask me to be a bridesmaid if y’all ever get married. I love you, but I’d have a hard time not making a scene.”

Rolling her eyes, Cordelia pandered, “What are you doing right now? I need a break from being in the house.”

“Shit, babe, you’re in luck. I was just about to head to that new coffee shop. The kitty cafe?”

“Kitty cafe?” Cordelia asked, perplexed, “Like, they sell kittens too?”

Coco hummed, “This is why you need to leave your house more often. Like I know you’re teaching our future leaders and shit, but come on. You’ve never heard of a kitty cafe?”

“No, Coco,” Cordelia sighed, “But if you want me to come you’ll have to stop being mean to me and tell me about it.”

“Okay, buzzkill. It’s this cute little place that has kittens up for adoption and you get to play with them while sipping your latte. You wanna come or not?”

Cordelia paused, wondering if Hank would even miss her for the few hours she’d be gone. Deciding that he was probably grossly invested in the game by now, she agreed with a simple, “Yes. Send me the address.”

Fifteen minutes later, Cordelia pulled up and parallel parked behind Coco’s car. Seeing the empty driver’s seat, she glanced inside the glass window front to see Coco had already made her way inside, a tiny kitten propped in her arms like it had made itself a home there. Laughing at Coco’s bewildered expression, she made her way inside the tiny shop. When the bell chimed, signaling her arrival, Coco’s voice cut through the low chatter of the shop. “Dee, go order your drink and then get the _fuck_ over here. I swear to God I’m about to become a cat lady at the ripe old age of thirty five.”

Cordelia chuckled to herself, nodding her head and following direct orders. In her usual air of confidence, she stepped over two kittens lightly batting at each other before standing in front of the counter and looking up at-

_Oh, fuck._

In front of Cordelia was the prettiest woman she’d ever seen. It was like a bolt of lightning struck her right in the chest, leaving an imprint that would commemorate a scar on her heart no matter where this short conversation would leave them. Having seen a lot of pretty women, it said a lot that her throat constricted and she stumbled over her one word greeting. Everything about her was intoxicating in all the nicest ways, like the way her unruly blonde hair still looked soft enough to run your hands through️, and the way her piercing blue eyes looked like they’d seen the depths of Cordelia’s soul. And most definitely her thin frame draped with an outfit Cordelia could only describe as the perfect mix of Stevie Nicks and Cher’s lovechild who just so happened to work at this cafe.

The woman behind the counter, whose name tag read “Misty,” smirked and jerked her head towards the menu. “First time here?”

Cordelia nodded slowly, intoxicated in the way her southern drawl sparked life in neurons of her brain that she didn’t even know existed. “Yeah, I just became aware this place was a thing.”

“Well, welcome,” Misty soothed her soul as she spoke, “I’m assuming you’re familiar with coffee, so what can I get you on that behalf?” The way she smiled at Cordelia made her mouth go dry and then immediately water when Misty licked her bottom lip. Stuttering, Cordelia murmured, “Just a small latte.”

“Sure thing, darlin’. Since it’s your first time and all, would you like me to introduce you to the kittens here?” Cordelia wanted to tell her to do that and _more_. She settled for a calm, “Sure, I’d love that.” When Misty turned around to make her drink, Cordelia glanced behind her and decided Coco was doing just fine on her own, chatting up a man who was gracefully balancing two kittens in his lap. Misty’s voice cut her out of her trance, and she turned back to pull out her wallet.

“Nah, don't worry about it,” Misty shooed her away, “It’s on me. Your first time and all.” Winking, she gently pressed Cordelia’s hands off the counter.

Cordelia, too caught up in the way Misty’s soft hands brushed hers, barely managed to peep out, “No, I can pay you, I have the money-“ Misty stopped her again. “Nah, just consider a small donation for the babies here who need food and accessories.” Jerking her head towards the donation bucket, Cordelia followed her gaze and swiftly stuck a $50 bill in it.

Misty’s eyes went wide and she flashed her a bright smile, gleaming teeth shining like stars in Cordelia’s eyes. “Well, now you _have_ to meet them. You’re like their sugar mama, they’re gonna love you.” Merely nodding, Cordelia rooted herself in place while Misty slung her cute little apron off and meandered from behind the counter. Crouching down next to Cordelia, she picked up a small black and white kitten who looked no more than a few weeks old. Holding him up like she was cradling a precious ruby, Misty came back up to eye level. Carefully handing the kitten to Cordelia, she murmured, “This is Taquito, he’s four weeks old and an absolute doll.”

Cordelia broke out into an infectious grin, scratching Taquito’s chin lightly before asking incredulously, “Do you name them all?” Misty nodded, seeming proud of herself. “All by myself. I manage the place, so there’s not really anyone above me to tell me what to name them.”

Enjoying the way Taquito purred in her soft grip, Cordelia smiled warmly, an instantaneous swell of positive emotion fluttering rapidly throughout her. Carefully setting him down, Cordelia straightened up and watched him scamper away. “Who’s next?”

Clapping her hands excitedly, Misty twirled around for a moment, debating on who to pick up next. Picking out an older cat that seemed utterly disturbed that Misty would even dare glance at her, she hoisted the cat into Cordelia’s waiting arms. “This is Kiwi, she’s about three years old and hates everyone and everything. It’s probably why no one wants her, she’s got a mean streak in her.”

Uncomfortably shifting Kiwi in her hold, Cordelia asked, “I- will she bite or scratch?” Misty huffed out a small laugh, “Oh God, no.” She leaned into Cordelia’s proximity, taking Kiwi’s head between careful palms and kissing her forehead. “No, she just gets this mean look in her eyes that everyone gets turned off by. Underneath it all, I think she’s a big softie. Ain’t that right, baby?” Still in Cordelia’s immediate surroundings, Misty looked so at ease in her element that Cordelia couldn’t help but smile. She also wished Misty would lean in just a little closer, but that was a problem to lock away in her brain for another day.

Lifting Kiwi up, her heart swelled to hear her soft purring. She pressed a chaste kiss against her forehead to mirror Misty’s, then placed her down before she was immediately handed another. “Now this guy is my favorite, don’t tell the others.” She placed a beautiful grey and white cat in her arms, and he immediately began purring contentedly. “His name is Dobby, and he’s about one and a half. He’s been here a little over half a year and I can’t for the life a’ me understand why. He’s perfect. Low maintenance, easy going, loves people, clearly.” Motioning towards the way Dobby had ducked his tiny head in the crook of Cordelia’s elbow, she gave the two of them a look of pure joy.

Cordelia nuzzled her nose on top Dobby’s head, enjoying the way he lifted his chin to bump his nose against her. Giggling at how ticklish it was, Cordelia felt something serious stir inside her that lashed out on a whim, “I want him. How much are adoption fees?”

Misty paused for a moment, looking shocked that Cordelia had blurted this out so quickly after meeting him. “Oh, well, it’s usually $50 but you already donated so nothing, now. You just need to sign the adoption papers,” she seemed skeptical, “You’re sure you want him?”

Cordelia nodded quickly, noting fleetingly that she had absolutely no expertise in taking care of a cat. She decided she might just need a little help that came in the form of a kitty cafe manager. “Positive. Especially if he’s your favorite, I trust your judgement. Can I play for a while, though?” Pulling her apron back on to greet a customer that walked in, Misty walked backwards towards the counter while maintaining eye contact with Cordelia, “Yeah, you can chill out for a bit, I’ll get the papers and you’ll be good to go.”

Biting her bottom lip, Cordelia placed Dobby down and scratched his head once more. Finally making her way over to Coco and her new friend, she sat cross-legged on the floor and kissed Coco’s cheek in greeting. “Hi, Co.”

Coco hummed her hello, too busy watching a tiny kitten chase a string she was dangling above its head. “Cords, this is Eric, he’s a lawyer down the street and comes here on his lunch break to find some peace and quiet during his day. Isn’t that nice?” Coco shot her a suggestive look, raising one eyebrow and not so subtly scooting away from the two of them. Trying her damndest not to roll her eyes to the back of her head, Cordelia sighed out a hello and held out her hand to shake his.

Grasping it, Eric chuckled out, “Your friend here tells me you’re a headmistress? Where’s your nun outfit and ruler, huh?” He proceeded to laugh at his own lame joke which made Cordelia shrivel up a little inside.

She bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. “At home with my boyfriend.” Eric paused, looking as though Cordelia had shoved a stake right through his heart and consequently ruined every future relationship for him. He seemed the type to rarely get shot down and Cordelia was merely glad to be of service at the blow to his ego. Pressing her lips into a thin smile, she sat up and offered her hand again. “Gotta go talk to my friend, it was nice to meet you.”

Trying and failing to sound calm and collected, he quickly wrote his name and number down on a discarded flyer and handed it to her, “Call me if that boyfriend thing ever changes, yeah?”

“Sure thing.” Cordelia watched as he sulked out through the shop doors without so much as a parting look back. She also noticed, much to her delight, that Misty had also watched him scurry out, with what Cordelia swore was a hint of a smirk on her face. Coco’s low, angry tone came out of nowhere off to the side of her. “Are you fucking kidding me? You know how hard I talked you up just now?”

“I would really appreciate it if you stopped trying to set me up when I’m already in a relationship,” Cordelia chastised. “And honestly, could you stop blindsiding me? I’m getting tired of shooting men down.”

“I’m just trying to help you out,” Coco grumbled. “Anyway, isn’t this place cute?”

Glancing around at the dozens of cats hopping around the store, Cordelia nodded. “I think I agreed to adopt one while you were chatting up the hotshot lawyer.”

Coco’s mouth dropped open. “Shut up. Shut _up_. Which one?” Cordelia pointed to Dobby, who was currently sprawled out in a patch of sun coming through the window, his tiny chest rising and falling with every breath. Her heart clenched at the absolute cuteness of it, already knowing there was no way she could possibly back out of taking him now. “Isn’t he the cutest little thing? I hope Hank doesn’t mind. Will you come with me tomorrow to pick up supplies for him?”

“Who cares what Hank thinks, this little guy is the only man you’re gonna need in your life,” Coco cooed, bending over to tickle Dobby’s stomach. “And yes, I’ll be spending lots of time at your place now.” This was saying a lot for her, because she normally avoided seeing Hank as if he carried the plague with him everywhere he went.

Grateful that Coco’s attention was shifted towards Dobby, Cordelia took in the surroundings of the tiny shop. It was decorated extremely adorably, with toys in every nook and cranny and funny cat photos framed on the walls. There were even cat friendly plants that lined the windowsill, if the way Kiwi was chomping down on it ferociously any indication. She swirled her head around, in hopes of catching a glimpse of the head of soft blonde curls that she uncharacteristically wanted to feel in her hands. When she turned back around, she gasped out at Misty, who had crept up in front of her while her back was turned.

“Gosh, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to scare ya,” she apologized. “I just gotcha papers all ready, but there’s a few questions we like to ask. Can you come with me?”

Biting back the urge to say _yes, I’ll go anywhere with you, just ask,_ Cordelia shook her head and proceeded to follow Misty into a small office area. Gesturing for her to sit, Misty flung herself comfortably into an old armchair. “Sorry I have to like, grill you, but it’s policy, you know? Can’t be letting crazy people take our babies,” Misty laughed out. Unlike Eric’s condescending and unfunny joke, it was charming for Cordelia to see Misty make light of herself. It was almost like the aura surrounding her was just that- light and airy.

And maybe Cordelia needed a little light in her life.

“I’m gonna be honest, I don’t know the first thing about caring for a cat,” she admitted. “But I run a school for girls, so Dobby will constantly be in good hands, I promise. They’re on Spring break, but they come in and out as they please.” She wrung her hands out nervously, partially at the thought of adopting this cat, and partially over being alone in a small space with someone she wanted to feel underneath her.

“I trust your judgement, unlike some people that come in,” she leaned in to close the gap between them, dropping her tone in a vow of secrecy, “Like that guy Eric? Only comes on his lunch break to pick up women that stop by here during the week. It’s ridiculous, he doesn’t even like the cats.”

Cordelia huffed out a noise of displeasure, glad she shot him down and simultaneously mad that Coco clearly didn’t have any standards for her choice in men. “That’s so annoying, Misty. Sorry- can I call you that? I just noticed your name tag.”

“Oh,” her fingers flew up to touch the tag like she’d forgotten it was there, “Yeah, of course. I didn’t catch yours?”

“Cordelia.”

“Cordelia,” she repeated back, the way it dripped off her tongue sending sparks shooting through Cordelia’s body, “What a pretty name. Matches your pretty face.”

Blushing intensely and ducking her head, Cordelia mumbled back a feeble, “Oh, thank you.”

“Okay, so basically I just need to know if you live in a smoke free home, and if anyone in your household is allergic? Husband, boyfriend, kids, _girlfriend_?” Cordelia caught a hint of hopefulness that she didn’t have any of these before shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “Well, my boyfriend, I don’t know. I don’t think he is allergic, he said he had a cat while growing up. I’m sorry.” She didn’t know if she was apologizing for her lack of knowledge or for the boyfriend himself. “We don’t smoke though,” she added too quickly.

Biting the cap of her pen, Misty averted her eyes, looking almost upset that Cordelia had mentioned a significant other. “No that’s fine, we just don’t want to send a cat off and have them brought back a week later because someone had an allergic reaction. I trust you,” she murmured.

Taking that confession from her lips, savoring it as though she’d just expressed her greatest secret, Cordelia replied back with a simple, “I wouldn’t dream of bringing him back.”

Misty seemed to brighten up. “Well that’s settled, I’m gonna need your signature here and you’ll be the proud new owner of Dobby,” her eyes twinkled a little, maybe from happiness, likely from tears she fought off. “I’m gonna miss him a lot.”

With the flick of her wrist, Cordelia signed away her responsibility for the first time in what felt like literal lifetimes. She twirled a lock of her hair around a finger, let it bounce back, then twirled it again all while musing silently. Before she could stop herself, she asked, “Could I have your number?” Rushing to explain herself at Misty’s startled expression, she backtracked, “I mean, so I can send you photos of him and ask for advice if need be? Since you’ll miss him so much.”

She watched Misty’s shoulders relax. “Oh, Cordelia, I sure would love that.” She took the pen back from her and scribbled her number down, complete with a tiny heart in the corner. Cordelia took it from her like a precious gift that was to be placed in the utmost careful hands. Folding it, she placed it in her pocket.

Misty sat up, searching around for a moment before pulling out a cardboard carrier and handing it to Cordelia. “I’m just gonna assume you haven’t gotten a carrier or food, for that matter.”

Fidgeting, Cordelia replied, “No, I haven’t quite gotten the chance to do that. But I will,” she rushed to reassure Misty, “I promise.”

Bending down, giving Cordelia a clear view of her backside, Misty dug around before presenting her with two cans of food and small dry food bag. Catching her wandering eyes before they were wrenched back up towards her face to make eye contact, Misty smirked devilishly and brushed the dust off her pants. “That should be good for a few days.”

Embarrassed, Cordelia gathered the supplies and went to stand, ducking past Misty’s form like she’d been caught red-handed with her hands in the cookie jar. In the doorway, she paused. “Okay, so now I just like, take him home? I feel like I’m bringing a baby home from the hospital.”

Misty leaned forward and placed a comforting hand on Cordelia’s shoulder, construing a thousand more sentiments, dozens of indecent ones flashing through Cordelia’s mind that begged to ask her to do that _again_. Realizing her proximity, she leaned back but left her hand where it was perched. “It’s that easy, Cordelia. Just make sure to give him space at home for a few days so he’ll get used to it.” Nodding slowly, taking this all in with rapt attention, Cordelia chewed her bottom lip between teeth. “I- well, okay I guess that’s it. It was very nice to meet you. You wanna come say goodbye to him?”

Shaking her head no, Misty hung back and crossed her arms around herself. Quietly, she replied, “No, because I’ll cry. I’m really gonna miss him.” She sniffled once, already teary eyed from the mere thought of parting with Dobby. Cordelia’s heart shattered, and she felt bad that she’d be the one to separate the two. “Maybe you could swing by sometime to see him? His progress, you know?” Her bold invitation was proved to be fruitful when Misty’s eyes lit up and the grin she flashed was enough to sustain Cordelia’s happiness a thousand times over.

“ _Oh_ , please. You wouldn’t mind?”

“Not one bit.”

Five minutes later, two scratches, and one cat meowing in the backseat of her car, Cordelia was on her way home after bidding goodbye to Coco. Being alone in the car with Dobby was the oddest feeling, like she’d just adopted a needy child that was currently wailing as if she’d taken him away from his family. And in retrospect, she had. Pretty positive Misty cared more about those cats than herself, Cordelia felt a pang of terror clash through her. What was she thinking? Leaving the house for groceries and coming back with a cat? Someone should really be keeping tabs on her reckless ideas.

Pulling up and parking in the driveway, Cordelia got out and wrangled the cat carrier clumsily out of her backseat. Struggling to carry it and the bag of food she’d been so graciously given, she jangled her keys before finally sliding the key in the lock. Setting the carrier down carefully, she called out, “Hank, I’m home.”

His head popped out from the kitchen archway. “Jesus, you’ve been gone for hours. Did you get the beer? Nick left after like an hour to go watch the game at the bar because we had nothing.”

“Well, I - didn’t have time, you see-“

“Are you kidding? All that time and you didn’t even make it to the store? What are we supposed to eat tonight, ramen? I’ll just order Mexican I guess.”

“Hank, stop. I have something for you. For us,” she corrected. Picking the carrier up, she carried it into the living room and motioned for Hank to sit in the armchair. “Don’t freak out, okay?”

“Why would I fre- oh you have got to be kidding me, Dee. A fucking cat?” He scrunched his face in disgust at Dobby’s face that curiously peeked itself out. At Hank’s snarl, Dobby retreated immediately back into the safety of the box.

“Honey, you scared him. Look, he’s very sweet, and I just couldn’t leave him there. The woman at the shop said he’s very easy going.”

“Dee, cats are a goddamn nuisance. And I don’t think you know the first thing about taking care of something other than yourself. Who talked you into this? Coco? This has her written all over it.”

“I take care of _you_ ,” Cordelia snapped defensively. “And no, this was all me, thank you very much. I decided I wanted him.”

Hank threw his hands up in distaste, leaning back to pick up the remote and put the game back on. Cordelia sat on the floor hunched over, willing off fresh tears that always seemed to make themselves known when Hank was around. But it was fine, because he loved her.

Right?

Gently coaxing Dobby out of the box, she cooed and fawned over him for a moment before he tentatively jumped into her lap. Cordelia lifted her head, upset to see Hank hadn’t even moved his an inch to gaze at them. Picking Dobby up, she scooted over towards the chair where Hank sat. “Baby, don’t you want to hold him?”

Hank scoffed at the two of them, making Cordelia feel like she’d shrunk into the size of an ant, the weight of his words beating down on her. “Absolutely not. This is your problem now, not mine. And he better not meow all night or he’s going to the backyard to stay.”

Quickly gathering Dobby in her arms, Cordelia stood and hovered over Hank, trying to chose her words carefully before she said _fuck it_ and kicked him out. “He’s not a _problem_ , Hank. If you cared to notice he hasn’t made any noise or even an attempt to be a ‘nuisance’. And over my dead body would he live in the backyard. There’s animals that will _kill_ him out there,” she seethed through her teeth.

Hank chuckled scathingly at her, refusing to even look at her. “Whatever you say, babe. Are you making dinner or not? Because I’m hungry.”

“I’m not,” she called as white hot anger prickled at the base of her neck. “Make your own damn food.”

“You betcha,” was his sarcastic reply.

Stomping up the stairs as loud as she could make it, Cordelia slammed their bedroom door so hard it rattled the windows. Quickly apologizing to Dobby; who tensed in her arms, she put him down gently atop her immaculate comforter. Turning, she put on her speaker, closing her eyes to relish in the low sounds of Connie Francis that filled the room.

Knowing Hank despised her older music, claiming it ‘horrendously bad’, she turned it up just enough to where she knew he would hear it well. Curling up into fetal position on her side of the bed, she lay there a moment, unable to do anything except breathe in and out. From beside her, she felt the bed dip slightly, and then a tiny paw press against the side of her waist. Freezing in place, not wanting to scare him off, she waited until Dobby jumped up and over her, making himself comfortable in the space between her knees and chest.

Almost immediately, his tiny breaths evened out and she knew he had found his forever home with the way he fell asleep with such ease.

Heart aching with pure love, Cordelia sighed and reached over to grab her phone as delicately as she could without jostling Dobby. Thumbing through her messages a moment, an idea sparked in her mind.

Carefully angling her phone, she opened the camera and shot a quick photo of her and Dobby before reaching into her pocket for one of two numbers she’d received today. Tossing Eric’s over the side of her bed to deal with at a later time, she typed in Misty’s number with precision and sent the photo without so much as a second thought. Anyway, she was on a roll today with reckless ideas so what was one more?

Debating for a moment, she then typed out another message. _‘I think he likes it here ;) it’s Cordelia btw, sorry if I’m bothering you!’_ Locking her phone, she closed her eyes to savor the stillness of her room.

The message came back almost immediately and Cordelia’s heart pounded. Her thumbprint wasn’t recognized and she had to manually put her password in three times before her trembling fingers got it right. Pulling up the text thread, she was delighted to see a photo of the cats still at the shop, all of them looking intently at the person who had shot the picture.

_‘How could I forget such a pretty face? I think they miss him, but we’re all glad he’s happy :) had to hold some treats in the air for them to pay attention long enough for a photo. cute shirt btw. and you’re not bothering me, keep the photos comin’!’_

Smiling to herself, Cordelia felt a rush of emotion bloom deep inside her chest. She sent off a quick reply, saying Misty should come over sometime this coming week to visit him. Reading the text again, she noticed that she’d skimmed over Misty’s compliment about her shirt. The one she’d put on for Hank. The one he didn’t even take a second out of his day to compliment.

Almost immediately her tears started stinging her eyes and there was no way for her to stop them. Angling her face so that they wouldn’t drip on Dobby, she let them free fall. It wasn’t that she was mad, angry, or even mildly upset with Hank. She was mad at herself, that she’d let herself become so stationary in her relationship and that she allowed herself to be talked down on and treated this way.

It was hard for her to even imagine a life outside the walls of her relationship, even if it did hold the premise of something happier. Something _life changing_. Because truthfully, Hank wasn’t a terrible person. An asshole sometimes, yes. But still someone her treated with her with basic decency and loved her even through her bad days. But what if it wasn’t enough? What if she did deserve more? It hurt to even think about all the time she’d possibly lost with him. Who would even want her, with all her emotional baggage and now a kitten in tow?

For an hour or so, the tears came on and off, Dobby’s curled position unmoving in quiet support. Thankful for the bundle of love that came in the form of this small animal, she let herself be used for warmth with no qualms. It felt good that someone was going to love her even like this, messy hair and nose raw from the sniffling.

Finally, when twilight began spreading its soft light into the cracks of her curtains, Cordelia slowed the tears from sobs to a low sniffle every few moments. From down the stairs, she heard the tv shut off and the following sound of Hank padding up the stairs.

Cordelia folded back into herself, still careful to avoid moving Dobby. When the door creaked open, she heard Hank pause, watching her stationary figure. When she sniffled, he poached the conversation.

“Cordelia? Baby?”

“What?” Came the disgruntled reply. She wasn’t in the mood for his shitty apologies and promises to be nicer in the morning.

“Come on, you’re really mad at me? Because I wouldn’t hold your cat?”

“No,” she lifted her head off the pillow, “I’m mad because you were being an asshole.”

Hank snorted, ignoring her name calling. Crawling up next to her on the bed, he peppered kisses up the length of her clothed body. “I’m sorry, alright? Don’t get all twisted up over it. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of cats.”

When he pulled Cordelia underneath him, Dobby scampered off the bed and into the closet Cordelia had left cracked open this morning. Sighing, she went to roll off the bed and check on him but Hank clasped her wrists and tugged her into a sitting position. For a moment he held her face between palms, looking at her so intensely that she grew uncomfortable after a beat.

“Sorry, just wondering how I got so lucky with ya,” was his reasoning.

_You should be considered so lucky, you bastard._

Before she could reply, he kissed her. He grunted into it, pulling her flush against him, and she knew immediately what his intentions were. Hank pulled back long enough to unbutton her shirt and unclasp her bra with quick movements. “You’re so sexy,” he whispered, already shucking his on pants off, “You know that?”

Humming her off kilter agreement into the next kiss, Cordelia let him unbutton her pants and slide his hand inside. Closing her eyes, she clutched at his back and imagined it was Misty’s back, the way her soft skin would tense and quiver as she scratched her nails up and down it lightly. Gasping when Hank teased at her through underwear, he made an approving noise. “You’re so wet already.”

When he slipped inside her, her brain was filled with lewd images of Misty’s two- _no_ , three fingers doing the same. Trying to stop the images from overpowering any thoughts in her cerebrum, her plan was foiled when all she could dare think about was blonde curls tickling her thighs, Misty’s wet lips on her most intimate places, teasing ringed fingers on her nipples. Her chest flushed red, and she ignored Hank’s obvious attempts to claim responsibility for her newfound enthusiasm. She was throbbing, flushed all over, and it had very little to do with his efforts. With every thrust, more ideas sparked in Cordelia’s mind.

Ideas of Misty holding her tightly, coaxing tiny moans out of Cordelia like she never wanted to hear anything else. Ideas of Misty whispering in her ear, with that electrifying accent telling her that she’s so _wet_ , that she can’t wait for Cordelia to fuck her so _good_. Ideas of Misty spreading her legs like an offering and Cordelia putting her own mouth between them, pushing two fingers inside her.

Without paying any mind to Hank’s soft grunts and half assed compliments, she let the perilous rush of arousal at her silent fantasies push her closer and closer to the edge.

When she came, it was accompanied with the mental image of Misty looking up at her from between her thighs, licking her lips and sucking her fingers to clean them off and savor that final taste of Cordelia like she didn’t want to forget it.

Hank held her through the jerky movements, gripping her hips a little too hard for her liking. Afterwards, he kissed her once more and declared, “You’re my girl, you know? That was amazing.”

“Yeah,” she pressed her lips into a thin line, “I know.”

_  
_

 


	2. i never promised you a rose garden

_I drive fast, radio blares, have to touch myself to pretend you're there_  
_Your hands were on my hips, your name is on my lips_  
_Over over again, like my only prayer_

_***_

Cordelia blinked her eyes open to two very different sets of snoring.

One was from Hank, which was to be expected. She was always up earlier than he was because she couldn’t exactly sleep with a train horn blowing in her ear. The second set was a welcomed sound, a new version of steady purrs from the cat on the pillow next to her head. Sometime during the night, Dobby had made himself a home curled up on the side of Cordelia’s pillow, nearly right on top of her face.

Smiling with unabridged happiness, she couldn’t help herself from making a contented cooing noise and scratching his stomach lightly. Dobby opened his eyes, yawning to bare his wide fangs and stretching out before snuggling even closer to her warmth. When Cordelia shifted to accommodate his relocated position, she felt truly content for the first time in a long time.

Maybe Coco was right, Dobby was the only man she needed in her life.

Two hours later, Hank finally decided to wake up and start his day. He rolled over and kissed Cordelia’s shoulder before padding over in his boxers to use the bathroom. When he came back she was sitting up in bed with Dobby on her lap, praising his good behavior and fawning over him with tangible excitement.

“Jesus, it’s not a child, Dee. He’s a cat.” He leaned down to press a chaste kiss on her cheek.

Cordelia briefly glanced over at his unshaven, early morning visage. There was a different aura about him, but she couldn’t quite describe what was off about it. It was like something in her brain switched overnight and she was seeing him in a different light now that the sun rose and a new day started.

Before she could bite out a snarky reply, he asked, “Are you gonna be making breakfast any time soon or will you be busy with him?”

Cordelia clenched a tight fist and resisted the urge to swing it across the side of his face. Sighing out, she replied, “No, I’m getting breakfast with Coco and then getting supplies for Dobby. I told you this.”

“No, you didn’t.”

“I- did. Last night?” She blinked slowly, trying to process how Hank could be so idiotic sometimes.

“I’d remember that. What am I supposed to do, make it myself? You always make it, baby. Come on, you don’t have time?”

Normally, Cordelia would take one look at his puppy dog eyes and allow herself to fall into the trap of doing whatever Hank requested from her. But like she thought earlier, today was different. She was different.

Puffing her chest out, she stood her ground. “No,” she replied tersely, “You can make it yourself. I have to get ready.” Ignoring his feeble protests, she crawled out of bed and into the bathroom where she got ready to meet Coco. Twenty minutes later, she walked in on Hank and Dobby rigidly sitting three feet apart from each other on the bed like two sworn enemies forced to share the space. Leaning over to kiss Dobby’s tiny head, she whispered, “Be good for me, baby. I’ll see you later.”

Straightening up, she went to walk out the door when Hank called out to her retreating figure, “I don’t get a goodbye?”

Clutching the doorframe and pausing for a moment, she turned slightly to reply, “Goodbye, Hank. Please don’t burn the house down making yourself breakfast.” Hank grunted his reply, already turning the tv on that he had insisted they needed in the bedroom. With one final glance at Dobby’s small form, she walked downstairs and out into the morning light.

Coco’s car sat in the driveway waiting for her, and she slid into the passenger’s seat with a quick hello.

Unusually bright and chipper this early in the morning, Coco asked, “Hank didn’t walk you to the door like a father watching his daughter go off to prom with a boy he doesn’t like?”

Cordelia shoved her shoulder lightly. “Co, stop. He doesn’t dislike you.”

“Well I dislike him. You can tell him I said that, word for word. And make sure you specify it came from me,” she half-joked.

Rolling her eyes, Cordelia changed the subject. “Where are we going for breakfast?” Today felt so pleasant already, with the bright sun beating down on the cypress and magnolia trees that cast dancing shadows of light across the road Coco roared dangerously fast down. It made Cordelia nostalgic for something she wasn’t even sure existed, but it felt good. Easy. And she was with her best friend, so what more could she ask for? Squeezing her eyes shut, she shifted uncomfortably as images of her fantasies from last night bled into her memories and overshadowed them for a brief moment.

Coco pressed her lips into a thin smile and glanced over at Cordelia. “Well, you see, I would take you to Belle’s Diner but I _really_ want pancakes from Joe’s.” Cordelia groaned, smacking a palm to her forehead. “Are you serious? You know I hate Joe’s. The owner wants to bang me. As he’s insinuated several times,” she reminded her.

“Yeah, _but_ \- think of the pancakes,” Coco busted out laughing, her sharp features quivering with amusement. “They’re shitty everywhere else.”

Sitting back, Cordelia resigned, “Fine, but you’re paying.”

“Gladly.”

Coco steered them towards the small diner that did indeed boast the ‘best’ pancakes in all of New Orleans. Stomachs rumbling, they made their way inside. When the shop door opened and a bell rang to indicate their arrival, Joe himself peeked his head out from behind the cut out in the wall where the kitchen was located. His lecherous ogle was enough to make Cordelia’s skin crawl, but thankfully he did nothing more than wave seductively at the two of them.

Choosing a booth far away from the kitchen and other customers, they sat facing towards each other. After Coco ordered her pancakes and Cordelia requested an omelette and fruit dish, they began chattering over mutual cups of coffee. When Coco finished a detailed play-by-play of her sexual proclivities that the guy she’d been on a third date with _gladly_ fulfilled, Cordelia paused while their plates of food were put down in front of them.

Over the table, Cordelia tensed for a moment before asking, “Co, do you ever like, fantasize about someone else during sex?”

“Uh, yeah. I imagine I’m riding George Clooney into oblivion with literally everyone.” She drizzled syrup over her pancakes, giving Cordelia a look of bewilderment as if it were weird not to.

“No,” Cordelia lowered her tone and dropped her gaze, “I mean, like someone you know? Or met?”

Coco’s eyes lit up and she smiled mischievously into her coffee mug. “You gonna tell me who it is, or do I have to pull it out of you?” She sighed theatrically as if she’d been waiting her entire life for Cordelia to tell her this. “I bet it’s Eric. I knew I saw a spark between you two. You’re welcome, by the way. Do you still have his number?”

Cordelia’s stomach churned and she took a deep breath before gathering her wits. “No,” she emphasized. “It is _not_ Eric. I’d rather-” she shook her head. “Anyway. It’s possible, and I’m not confirming or denying, that it was a woman.”

Coco’s hands rattled as she put her coffee mug down before squealing just loud enough for the entire restaurant to hear. Cordelia shrunk back into her seat, wishing desperately that she could drop off the face of the earth. Coco leaned over and pulled her hands over so she could lace their fingers together. “Cords, I mean this with absolute conviction, you have just made my entire fucking year. Fantasizing about a woman? While getting dicked down? This has truly, and I’m not joking, made me love you even more than I thought was possible.”

Ignoring Cordelia’s pained expression, she blabbered on, “Oh my God, do you like this girl? Do I know her? Please fucking tell me I know her. I need to know the details, so start wherever.”

“Lower your voice,” Cordelia hissed. “My God. And no, you don’t know her. It’s going to stay that way,” she added.

“If you don’t tell me, I’m calling Joe over here right now to tell him you’re single and DTF.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“It’s me, I would.”

Cordelia threw her hands up in surrender. “Jesus, okay. What do you want to know?”

“Start with where you met her, and then I want every sexually explicit detail, please.” Coco’s plump cheeks were flushed with unabridged happiness, like Cordelia was reading the winning lottery numbers and she was about to become a billionaire.

“I met her yesterday-”

Coco interrupted her. “Yesterday? I was with you all day. Oh my God. Is it me? Oh, babe, that’s sexy and all, but I don’t think I could fuck you. We’re too close.” She gripped her hands again, this time in a form of apology.

“ _No,_ ” Cordelia quickly emphasized. “No, it is not you. She was at the kitty cafe.” She retracted from their embrace and let Coco’s gears start shifting. After a beat, seeing nothing connect in Coco’s mind, she allowed, “She was blonde?”

“Oh my God. Oh my _God_. The girl behind the counter? Oh, Cords, she was _cute._ I can see where you’d start imagining things with her.” Making a pleased humming sound, she continued to eat her pancakes. “Okay, so? What did you think about?”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Cordelia shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. “I’m not telling you _that._ ”

“Joe?” Coco raised her voice a notch above a whisper, taunting Cordelia and holding it above her head like a ransom note. Cordelia squeaked a little, rushing to shush her and placate her with a response.

“I hate you so much, you know that?” At Coco’s smug expression, she gave every last detail of her fantasy, right up to the end where she confessed, “Co, I came like- harder than I ever have in my entire life.”

Coco grasped her hands once more in an act of camaraderie. “Babe, I don’t know what this means exactly, but the way you described it you might have a little crush.”

Shaking her head vehemently, Cordelia denied this, “No, I can’t. I’m in a relationship, remember?” Inwardly, a storm of questions rushed to cloud her usual common sense thought process. _What if it is a crush? What if I can never have sex without thinking of her? What happens if I see her again?_

Snapping out of it, she continued, “And it’s not like it means anything. I barely know her.”

When the check was placed on the table, Coco quickly grabbed it and put in a wad of cash. “I was going to force you to pay anyway, but I think you have enough on your plate as is.” Noting Cordelia’s distressed expression, she placed a comforting palm on her elbow. “It’s gonna be fine. I promise.”

Shaking her head, trying to believe Coco’s words, she mumbled, “Let’s just go get stuff for Dobby, yeah?”

After an hour or three of getting distracted in the pet store by tiny cat costumes and dozens of toys, Cordelia managed to stay out of debt by only spending a small chunk of her checking account. There were just too many costumes Dobby would look cute in, so naturally she had to buy all of them. Plus the essentials.

Hauling the giant bag in the trunk while Coco played with the dials and put on her playlist, Cordelia finally managed to wrangle it in and climb back into the front seat.

“Okay,” she heaved, out of breath, “Where to?”

“Well,” Coco started, her car already reversing out of the spot, “You see I’m very thirsty, and I think a nice, tasty, iced coffee would do just the trick.” When Cordelia glanced at her, puzzled, she waited for realization to dawn.

“No. Coco, _no_. We are not going back there.”

“Why not,” she whined, “I just want to see her again. Let me have this.”

“No, absolutely not. I’ll look pathetic. Who goes to the same place twice in a row?”

Coco looked bewildered. “Uh, plenty of people? There are people that go to the same Starbucks everyday, how is this different?”

“I’m staying in the car.”

“Over my dead body.”

When they made it, she pulled her car up and parked haphazardly into a spot, getting out and forcing Cordelia out of her seat like a child that didn’t want to be dropped off at school. Pushing her slightly, she smacked Cordelia on the ass as a subtle way of telling her to buck up.

When the shop door opened, Misty was at the counter writing down something on a notepad. Without looking up she called, “Welcome, y’all. What can I-“

When she glanced up at Cordelia and Coco, her face broke out into an infectious grin. “Oh gosh, hi guys. I didn’t expect y’all back so soon,” suddenly she stiffened. “Oh, is it Dobby? Is he okay?”

Cordelia rushed to calm her fears. “No, no, Dobby is fine. He’s at home with my-“ looking around for a moment, she cleared her throat, “No, we just came for some coffee.”

Another obscenely beautiful smile that knocked the wind out of Cordelia’s chest. “Perfect, I can do ya right up over here.” At her choice of words, Cordelia clenched her thighs together and tried to remember to release the air from inside her lungs. Coco made her order first; feigning attentiveness to the menu to see how Cordelia interacted and to get a good, long look at Misty before she ordered her own drink.

When Misty handed them their drinks, she plopped herself down on a cushion in front of the sofa they lounged on. “You guys came on a good day, we got two new cats this morning.”

Before she could stop herself, Cordelia leaned forward and blurted out, “Can I meet them? I mean,” she corrected, “Can _we_?” Coco sipped on her drink in an attempt to stop from choking on laughter, small noises of amusement spilling out despite the efforts. When Cordelia shot her a side eye that could freeze Hell over, she quickly shut up and looked away.

Misty was too busy trying to wrangle one of the new cats to even notice Cordelia’s glaring look at her best friend. When she finally managed to pick one up, she could see the visible tension between the two blondes. To break the ice, she placed him in Coco’s arms.

“This is Percy, he came from an abandoned warehouse down by the swamps. Poor thing is a little skittish, but extremely loveable. He just needs a little work.” Daring to glance over at Cordelia, Misty caught her listening intensely at every word she spoke like they held the power of prayer or something much more important. Suddenly overwhelmed with a rush of jitters, she quickly corralled another cat into her grip.

Placing her carefully into Cordelia’s arms, she leaned forward a little too far, giving Cordelia a front row seat to see the lace bralette she had on underneath her shirt. When Cordelia‘s chest flushed red and she quickly flicked her eyes up to Misty’s face, the latter managed a cheeky grin and a look that conveyed multiple emotions. All of which Cordelia wanted her to confess under a cloak of secrecy, spilling her guts without care.

“This is Freya. We think she and Percy are brother and sister.” When Misty sat back on her knees, her chest accidentally brushed against Cordelia’s knee, causing her body to go rigid for one electrifying second. In an attempt to sound confident and bold, she joked, “Do you find these cats yourself? Are you like a vigilante for cat justice?”

Misty laughed heartily, all while Coco gazed at Cordelia with a mixture of shock and praise at the sauve joke. “No, no, I have a couple guys who work for animal control that don’t like to see these babies put down. They call me the cat whisperer, I find homes for all of them. Even the crazy ones.”

Cordelia huffed out a laugh. “Sometimes crazy is good.”

Lips twisting into a grin, Misty looked right into her eyes and replied, “I think so too."

Placing herself in between the two of them; right in Misty’s line of vision, Coco interrupted because, well, she’s _Coco_.

“So Misty, what do you like to do in your free time? Do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend? Fifty cats at home?”

Cordelia dropped her forehead into a palm and audibly sighed out. Misty seemed unperturbed by Coco’s questioning, chuckling after she threw a toy over towards an older looking cat. “No boyfriend, no girlfriend, no cats. Just me, myself, and my plants.” She ducked her head in embarrassment, “I don’t really do much, just go for walks, cook a lil’ here and there, see some friends every once in a while.”

“That sounds really lovely, Misty,” Cordelia dodged Coco’s sharp nudge. “It's nice to be alone sometimes.”

Misty brightened up. “Yeah, but it’d be nice to come home to someone sometimes.” Despite the sad nature of her comment, she still smiled warmly at Cordelia.

Deciding that there was no way she could get these two helpless women past their pining and witty banter, Coco sighed dramatically and stood up. “I gotta pee, don’t miss me too much Cords.” As she walked away, she heard Cordelia whisper, “I’m _sorry,”_ and the amused laugh that followed.

When Coco was out of earshot, Cordelia apologized once more, saying, “She’s very nosy. Don’t answer her and she’ll fuck off.”

Misty tossed her head back and forth, “Oh, her? Don’t worry about that. I promise she’s not bothering me. I’ve been asked worse.” When Cordelia bit her bottom lip and tugged it between teeth, Misty felt something swell up inside of her, and she quickly blurted out, “Speaking of asking someone something-“

Cordelia froze in place, her heart dropping to her gut. _There’s no way she’s about to ask me-_

“Would you like to come out with me tonight?” Misty was quick to continue, “I mean like, as friends, to my friend Queenie’s birthday party? It’s at a bar and I don’t feel much like goin’ alone. I promise it’ll be fun, my friends are sweet. They’d like you.” She averted her eyes and scooted into a sitting fetal position. Either way Cordelia swayed her reply, Misty wasn’t quite sure she wouldn’t fall over.

“Oh, my,” she bit the inside of her cheek, thinking of Hank waiting at home for her, “I mean, yeah, I’d love to but- I should probably get home to Dobby,” Cordelia stammered out. Her heart was beating a thousand times per second, and she was pretty certain Misty could see it pounding in her chest like an 808 drum. Her palms grew sweaty and she felt lightheaded, wondering if Misty had in fact just asked her to go someplace. _With her._ As friends, but still _with her._

Misty covered her disappointment well, nodding her head like she understood completely. “Yeah, no, I get it. It was a long shot,” she chuckled out. “Maybe next time.”

“Yeah. Next time.”

For once in her life, Cordelia was thankful for Coco’s untimely arrival. Coming into their peripheral, she called out, “Cords, you ready?”

Cordelia stood on wobbly legs, handing Freya back to Misty. “Thanks for,” gesturing at Freya, “You know. And inviting me tonight. Sorry I can’t come.”

“Ah, no worries. You gotta busy schedule, I understand.” _Do you understand?_ Cordelia hoped her facial features conveyed the thought, _Do you understand how badly I want to go with you?_

Nodding slowly, she backed out of the seating area. “Well, I’ll see you, Misty. Bye.”

“Bye, Cordelia.”

In the car, just as she went to buckle herself in, Coco threw a soft punch that landed right on Cordelia’s shoulder. “Ow, _what the fuck_ , Coco?” Cordelia gasped out, clutching her arm in mock pain.

“You’re fucking useless. I _heard_ her ask you out tonight. And your answer was no? Have I taught you absolutely nothing?”

“What do you mean? I said no for good reason. I have to go home, I can’t just randomly leave my boyfriend and cat at home all night to go gallivanting across the city with some random woman I barely know. They don’t even like each other.”

Coco pulled out of the spot, gripping the steering wheel with tight fists. Cordelia could tell she was thrumming with anger, debating whether to either hit her again or say something extraordinarily disgruntled. “Don’t even talk to me anymore, I’m mad at you. You had the golden ticket of opportunities in your hand and you fucking _blew_ it. For Hank, no less. I will never understand you.”

Cordelia grumbled out a half-assed apology in hopes Coco would let it slide.

She didn’t.

The entire ride home, Coco droned on and on about how Cordelia needed to take some initiative for once in her life and let herself go crazy. There’s a world of opportunity out there, Coco chastised, that Cordelia could take advantage of if she just let _loose_. None of Coco’s monologue made Cordelia feel any better about turning Misty down, and she had never been so excited to see her house in her life. Turning down the tree lined street and into the driveway, Coco paused her when she went to unbuckle her seatbelt.

“Cords, I’m sorry, okay? I’m just tired of you settling for second best when you could be having something that changes your life, you know? I don’t want to see you in an unhappy marriage ten years from now, wondering a whole bunch of what ifs. I love you. I’m sorry.”

Cordelia blinked her eyes closed, fluttering them in hopes that her tears wouldn’t scale the wall of her eyelids and fall down her face. “Yeah, I know.” She took Coco’s face between palms and kissed her cheek. “I know. I love you. 

Gathering her bag out of the trunk, she waved to Coco as she paused to unlock her door. Once inside, she was surprised to hear the silence consuming her house. Usually Hank had tv or music on, sometimes a variation of the two. Making her way up the stairs, she couldn’t seem to hear any indication Hank was even home, despite his car sitting in the driveway.

When she pushed her bedroom door open, Hank’s figure was sitting up rigid on her side of the bed, facing the wall. “Hi, babe,” she called tentatively, unsure of what he was doing on her side, “Where’s Dobby?”

“I’m going to ask you this once, and I want you to answer me truthfully. I’m not going to ask it again.” He kept his tone even and low, but Cordelia could see the tension rippling through his shoulders like waves far out in the horizon.

“ _What_? Hank - what? You’re freaking me out.”

“Who is Eric? And don’t tell me he’s just a ‘friend’.” He turned and held up the scrap of paper that had Eric’s number written on it. “I found this while looking for batteries for the remote.” Cordelia paled, regretting that she hadn’t taken two seconds out of her day to throw the piece of paper in the trash or even burn it to a crisp. Having forgotten she’d tossed it over the side of the bed yesterday, she already knew this wasn’t going to end well.

“Jesus, Hank, you scared me. He’s nobody. Some guy who hit on me yesterday. I told him about you,” she added, in case that swayed Hank’s anger towards the diminishing end.

“Don’t bullshit me, Cordelia,” Hank seethed. “Men don’t just give out their numbers to women who claim they have boyfriends. I doubt you even told him that last part, huh?”

“Hank, honestly. I took it to be nice. He tried to pick me up, I told him off, and he left. End of.”

“No,” he sneered, “Not ‘end of’, you either flirted back or you asked for this. I want to know which it was. I bet you loved it, right? The attention? Do I not give you enough, is that it?”

Cordelia dug her nails into her palm so hard she saw stars. Choosing her words carefully, she enunciated each of them. “I’m going to say this one more time, and hopefully by then you’ll get it through your thick skull. He hit on me, I told him I had a boyfriend, he gave me his number and left. In that order. In no way did I flirt back or ask for it. So if you’d kindly move on, I’d really fucking appreciate that.”

Hank stood up and quickly stalked over to her. Standing her ground, Cordelia puffed out her chest with confidence oozing out of every pore. It was a strange dichotomy, the two of them; Hank shaking and enraged, nearly splitting and the seams, Cordelia with her unusually steady set of steel nerves. She could see him trying to reign in the anger to focus on his next words, only able to see red behind his eyes.

“I expected more from you out of this relationship. How dare you jeopardize what we have?” He jabbed a sharp finger at her collarbone, “You know how many women hit on me at work? Dozens, Dee. And you know how many I shoot down? Every single one. Maybe the next time it happens I’ll flirt back a little, just like you. Let them take me home, take their clothes off and fuc-“

Cordelia slapped him.

He recoiled back, partially in shock and partially in hopes she wouldn’t hit him again. She hit him so hard it left a mark, like all the pent up hurt in her body had rushed out in one giant wave of anger. He clutched at his cheek and looked at her wildly, as if he couldn’t dare believe she’d done that.

“I think you should sleep on the couch tonight,” she demanded in a hushed tone, still staring him deep in the eyes.

“And I think you should apologize for that.”

“No.”

With a sneer of disgust, he pushed past her and down the hallway, slamming the door behind him so hard she jumped a little. When she heard his boots clamp down the stairs, she collapsed to the floor and let her tears fall slowly, then all at once like a faucet turned on in her eyes. For a few hours, she let herself heave out the emotion rather uncomfortably on the hardwood floor. The sobs rattled her bones, dousing her inside and out with unhinged emotion that felt like a wrecking ball had taken a blow to every fiber of her being.

From inside the closet, a small, pitiful meow reached her ears. Wiping her cheeks and sniffling, she crawled on her hands and knees to open the door where Dobby sat dead center. “Oh, sweetie. Come here,” she gathered him in her arms, “Did Hank put you in here? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry baby.” She rocked the two of them back and forth for a moment while Dobby bumped his nose against the sharp angle of her chin.

Out of nowhere, an idea sparked and sent a thrill down her spine. Gently setting Dobby into her lap, Cordelia reached into her pocket for her phone. Quickly, she typed out a message to Misty and hit send without a second thought.

8:48pm: _sorry to bother you, but I was thinking, if it’s okay, I’d like to take you up on your offer to go out tonight. don’t feel much like staying in my stuffy house. no worries if it’s too late._

Her phone buzzed within forty seconds.

8:49pm: _it’s never too late! i’ll send you the address of the bar, can you come around 9:30? i’m still handling a few things at the shop, but i can meet ya there!_

Wanting to reply  _yes_ , _I’ll go anywhere you are_ , Cordelia replied with a simple confirmation. It was a dangerous game she was about to play, but if Cordelia knew anything, it’s that she always played to win.

In a swift movement, she was up and off the floor, splashing cool water on her face to mask the blotchy patches her tears had created. Covering them with a minimal amount of concealer and swiping some lipstick on, she flung her closet door back open and went straight towards the back. In the back were her outfits that Hank had deemed ‘slutty’ and items that ‘shouldn’t ever see the light of day’. She quickly found the dress she was looking for and shucked her day clothes off to pull it over her head. It still fit, hugging her in all the right places, and with that she was thankful for small miracles. Rushing into a pair of heels and struggling to jam a pair of earrings in, she called a car to take her to the address Misty had sent her.

Clumsily making her way down the stairs in her heels, she breezed past Hank’s form on the couch where he had already downed three beers and half a frozen pizza. With disgust lacing her tone, she bit out, “Don’t wait up for me, I’m going out. And if you ever,” she emphasized this with anger dripping off every vowel, “ _ever_ lock my cat in the closet again you will be out on your ass in three seconds flat.”

  
“Yeah,” he replied flatly, “Go get fucked by Eric. Don’t come crawling back to me at three am.” 

She mimicked his earlier door slamming without second thought. In the cool night, she took a moment of clarity to breathe in the crisp air, thankful for a change of scenery and chance to turn her night around. In the car she had a brief flash of terror, a momentary lapse that begged her to consider _what the fuck_ she was doing, but that was quickly overshadowed by the mere idea of seeing Misty outside the four walls of the coffee shop. When they pulled up, Cordelia was happy to see that she recognized the place, a bar Coco had dragged her to once or twice during the other times she’d fought with Hank. _At least I’m consistent._ Thanking the driver, she stepped out tentatively and looked around for any sign of the only reason she left her house tonight.

“Cordelia!” Misty’s dreamy voice stopped Cordelia in her tracks for a brief moment, and she whirled around to greet the object of all her recent desires. “Hi, Misty. Sorry I’m a little late."

“Gosh, no, my friends just got inside so don’t worry.” She clasped Cordelia’s elbow, who allowed herself to be guided inside where the smell of cheap beer and smoke intertwined to create an experience unique to every bar. “Don’t be nervous,” Misty tapped her on the forearm. “My friends are really cool, I promise ya.”

Glancing down at Misty’s fingers on her arm, Cordelia murmured, “I trust you.” Bringing her eyes up to Misty’s face, she allowed herself to fall into the pool of blue eyes that looked like they wanted to see every inch of Cordelia’s soul.

And maybe she’d allow that.

From the far end of the bar, Misty’s name was called excitedly. Wrenching her eyes away from Cordelia’s, she pulled her by the hand over to them, introducing Queenie, Zoe, and Kyle, Zoe’s boyfriend. Misty pulled Cordelia in with a gentle hand on the back of her neck to whisper in her ear, “Zoe and Kyle are really just fuck buddies, don’t pay attention to their PDA.” Cordelia huffed out a small laugh and nodded like Misty had sworn her to secrecy on a top secret government file. Everyone was extremely welcoming to her, Queenie even pulling her in for a great bear hug which Cordelia gladly reciprocated.

“Sorry girl, I’ve already had like two shots. You want one? Misty, get this bitch some tequila, I love her already.”

Three shots later, Cordelia found herself nodding her head to the beat of the music coming from the DJ out on the dance floor. Misty slid up beside next to Cordelia, her presence more intoxicating than the alcohol thrumming in her system. “Do ya wanna dance with me? I promise I’ll make it worth your while,” Misty flashed her an award winning smile, and Cordelia could tell by the way her speech slurred, the way her southern drawl was just a _tad_ more enunciated, she was feeling the same level of drunkenness flowing through her veins. Her lips were looking more kissable than usual _,_ a drop of tequila hovering above her top lip.

Cordelia wanted to be the one to lick it off.

Suddenly recalling Misty had asked her a question, she vehemently denied Misty’s advances to pull Cordelia on the dance floor. “No,” she pulled back from Misty’s grasp, even though all she wanted to do was come closer. “I really need more alcohol if you want me to do that.” She giggled a little too loudly for her own liking, clamping a palm over her mouth.

Misty grasped her wrist and pulled it down. “Nah, lemme see that beautiful smile a’ yours, baby.” At the pet name, Cordelia’s entire body hummed with something delightful, an all consuming rush that hit her like an oncoming train. Before she could say something embarrassing, she turned and pointed towards the bar. “I’m getting one more, do you want anything?” Misty shook her head no, already twirling towards the place where Queenie was dancing and gathering loads of attention.

At the bar, Cordelia clumsily sat up on a bar stool, placing two palms on the counter for balance. Coming up next to her out of thin air, Zoe startled her for a brief moment before she visibly relaxed. “Hi, you're Zoe, right?”

“That’s me,” the young girl held out wobbly hand and drunkenly stumbled over her words, “You’re Cordelia, the coffee shop girl? Misty has talked about you like, non-stop.”

“She- what?” Cordelia felt the world tilt sideways underneath her, this time not from the alcohol.

Zoe ignored her, too engrossed in taking the shot of vodka the bartender placed in front of her. “Yeah, she really likes y-“ Kyle came up out of nowhere from behind her, cutting Zoe off and dragging her out towards the dance floor before Cordelia could ask the million questions that swirled in her mind, demanding answers the way her lungs demanded air.

Hands shaking, she poured the shot down her throat and winced at the journey the burn took down her throat. Bucking up, she gave herself a silent pep talk before taking one more shot and clambering off the stool. Right smack in the middle of the floor was Misty; twirling and dancing her heart out to the beat of some oldies tune Cordelia barely recognized. Even if she tried her hardest to place the song, it wouldn’t matter because all she could hear in the back of her head was a low buzzing noise, sounding a lot like her rationality and common sense being thrown out the window.

Misty looked radiantly beautiful as usual, but in this darkened room filled with people and commotion, she was a complete vision and the only thing Cordelia could seem focus on. Everything and everyone became a blur as she watched Misty lose herself so completely in her element. As she moved her body around and around, another nerve ending in Cordelia’s body fizzled out and left her feeling boneless at the sight. Cordelia was enamored by the way the flashing lights hit her face at the right angles every so often, giving her a perfect look at what she would consider a literal angel on earth. It was too much insane pressure for her, and just as she was about to turn back, Misty spotted her.

In quick, fluttering movements, she made her way over to Cordelia to pull her by the waist into the middle of the dance floor. “Can you dance with me now, please?” Misty had to know the affect her tiny pout made on Cordelia, because this time she allowed herself to be coerced into dancing to the beat of another oldies tune. Misty was great at this; her tiny frame hitting every beat like she practiced this at home alone in her living room.

In an alternate universe, Cordelia thought she’d like to be swaying Misty back and forth in her arms for years without letting go. But she had only given herself tonight, and she’d like to see how far it could stretch. She hoped it was infinite, like the amount of cells in her body or the expanse of a dark night across an ocean. Over the crowd of people dancing, the DJ announced she was going to be playing a slow song as per request of someone celebrating their wedding anniversary. It was romantic and slow, too slow for Cordelia, and she began retreating silently when she felt a petite hand clasp around her wrist.

“I love this song,” Misty murmured shyly, her eyes twinkling with what looked like a billion stars, “Will you dance with me? Zoe has Kyle and Queenie’s got some guy wrapped around her finger.” She released her grip as if embarrassed she’d even asked, but Cordelia was quick to agree, wanting to give Misty anything she wanted and more.

For a moment she stood awkwardly on the dance floor, unsure of where to place her hands or even look. Thankfully, Misty took the lead, pulling Cordelia flush and draping dainty arms around her neck. Cordelia took the hint, throwing her own arms around Misty’s waist and dropping her chin on the skin of a smooth shoulder. Misty nuzzled her face into the curve of Cordelia’s neck, inhaling and sighing dreamily like she’d been waiting lifetimes for this. For a beautifully long, handcrafted moment, they swayed together as one without any care of outside factors. Cordelia felt everything she should feel in her relationship with Hank in this moment - securement, trust, and yes, even love. There was no denying that the way Misty held her so delicately in her arms wasn’t a form of love. Maybe not the type Cordelia was used to, but a form nonetheless.

She froze when Misty pulled back slightly, afraid this moment was over so soon and she’d be left craving more. Misty swallowed all of Cordelia’s fears by rubbing a thumb at the nape of her neck, an intimate act that made her skin crawl with the most delicious sensation. Misty’s eyes were focused on tracing the outline of Cordelia’s lips, and she was about to abandon all sense of rationality to lean in and press them against Misty’s when the younger woman started speaking.

“It sure was real nice to see you and your friend today,” she dropped gaze her to the floor but pushed forward anyway, “It was nice to see you, is what I mean.” Cordelia felt her breath falter, wondering if she’d somehow ended up in that alternate universe where Misty was going to make herself a home in the cusp of Cordelia’s arms.

“Yeah?” she selfishly pressed Misty to divulge more, hoping she would say something, anything that would give Cordelia’s fantasies the chance at becoming reality.

“Yeah,” Misty looked off to the side of them, avoiding the loaded question. Shifting on two feet uncomfortably, she swiftly changed subjects. “Hey, I need the bathroom, okay? I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll come with you,” Cordelia blurted, not wanting anything about this exchange to end. She would follow Misty to the ends of the earth tonight, going anywhere she requested and not regretting a single second until the sun rose and she was forced to go back to her normal life.

Misty seemed perplexed. Nodding imperceptibly, she quickly grabbed Cordelia’s hand and refused to let go of it. Not when they weaved their way through the bar, not while they waited in the short line outside the bathroom, and not until she pulled Cordelia into the same stall with her. Dropping her hand, Misty seemed to be in multitudes of distress and Cordelia wasn’t sure what exactly she’d done wrong. Not wanting to make her uncomfortable, she stammered out, “I can leave so you can like, you know,” gesturing towards the stall, she went to unlock the door and walk out.

“Don’t leave,” Misty whispered, clearing her throat sharply.

“What did you-”

“I said, don’t leave me, please,” she said once more, this time with a little more conviction. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done to me in the twenty four hours we’ve known each other?” She pressed herself flat against the opposite wall, staring at the floor as though she were hoping a sinkhole would open up and swallow her whole.

Refusing to believe this was how her night ended up, Cordelia blinked rapidly and shook her head back and forth with disbelief, unsure of whether she wanted Misty to continue speaking or stop there so she wouldn’t say something she’d regret. She shifted awkwardly on two feet, hoping and praying that her drunken mind hadn’t conjured this up while simultaneously trying to store every second of it in her memory in case it was erased amongst the haze of inebriation.

Unfortunately, the alcohol emboldened Misty further and she continued, “You come in with these fancy lil outfits, and that cute smile with those nice lips, looking like the woman of my _dreams_ but I can’t do anything about it,” she paused to gather her thoughts, and Cordelia wanted to do nothing more than scream out that she _could do something about it,_ but all that came out of her mouth was a small squeak that Misty either didn’t hear or ignored completely.

“And that’s _fine_ ,” it sounded like she’d failed at convincing herself, “It’s fine because you have a boyfriend at home and he’s probably tall and handsome, probably treats you so well but-” She sniffled once more, her tone low, “But he’s not _me_.”

Misty finished her drunken rambling, giving absolutely no qualms about anything she’d just admitted. In fact, she looked quite proud of herself, like this had been eating away at her for years and she was finally free of the shackles. Cordelia was in a state of shock, heat prickling up her spine and feet frozen in place. She opened her mouth and then shut it just as quickly, everything she wanted to say on the tip of her tongue begging to be spit out. Cordelia just needed that push that would send her over the edge of a cliff, but couldn’t bring herself to do it. All she could do was close her eyes and wish her life were different, that she was single, that she was anywhere else in the world but _here_ because of what she was about to do -

Her eyes snapped open.

“Misty,” she raised her voice barely above a whisper, then again when the small blonde didn’t make any attempt to reply, “ _Misty,_ look at me. _”_

When Misty timidly glanced up at her with a thousand different emotions flashing behind her eyes, Cordelia quickly and swiftly closed the gap between them.

In a sudden burst of carelessness; a moment of unabashed recklessness, she gripped the back of Misty’s head and angled it to clash their lips together. The second their lips brushed, a fire began churning in Cordelia’s stomach, unable to stop itself from burning her deliciously from the inside out. It consumed every inch of her skin, from the bottom of her feet to the tips of her ears. Over and over, she kissed Misty with reckless abandon, the latter letting Cordelia drunkenly find her footing in this tiny four by four bathroom stall. The alcohol may have been a catalyst to this interaction, but Cordelia realized now it would have only been a matter of time before this occurred. She wouldn’t care if this had happened in a darkened alleyway at four in the morning, a shuttle in zero gravity space, or another grimy bar bathroom five hundred miles from here. She was just exhilarated beyond belief that it was _happening._

Cordelia wanted to memorize every second of this entire exchange, storing it in her memory like a picture book full of obscene snapshots. The skin of Misty’s flushed chest, the way her tiny body rutted against Cordelia’s like it held a gallon of water and she was stranded on a desert island, her parted lips that were letting out heavenly moans like a prayer against Cordelia’s.

Gasping sweetly into Misty’s mouth, Cordelia clutched at her like she couldn’t get close enough to her thin frame. Their bodies molded together as one as if they were slow dancing again, pressing so close that Cordelia could feel the pounding beat of Misty’s heart and hoped Misty could feel hers beating right back in synchronization. Her hands couldn’t stop wandering; up Misty’s back and then down it, tangling themselves in her hair, then finally coming at rest to cradle the sides of her face. Misty pulled back long enough to smile against her mouth, lips swollen and insanely kissable, to which Cordelia pulled her back in to do just so.

There was nothing in the world that was more important in this moment than parting Misty’s lips with her tongue, which Cordelia took the opportunity to preoccupy herself with just that. She teased Misty by clutching her cheeks and releasing her bottom lip from between teeth with an audible _pop_ before giggling into the next kiss, slipping her tongue inside her mouth on an off balance venture.

Misty groaned, opening her own lips wider to accommodate the welcomed intrusion. Her tiny whines of pleasure had Cordelia’s head swimming, unable to focus on anything but the way Misty felt against her body. Suddenly aware of every inch of skin that was pressed against Misty, she arched and brushed her chest just once against her in hopes Misty felt the hardened tips of her nipples, the inevitable mark of desire she had created so effortlessly. From outside the stall, she could barely make out the bass thumping of another upbeat song, the murmur of the crowd enjoying their night. But they didn’t matter. All that mattered was that Misty’s soft lips were on hers, one hand tangled in her hair, the other rooted gently yet firmly at the back of her neck to keep Cordelia rooted in place. _As if she wanted to be anywhere but right here._ Their wet lips had yet to part, which wasn’t phasing either of them in the slightest.

After a few moments, Cordelia tugged back slightly to take in a deep breath of air after having denied herself oxygen for so long. _With good reason_. Misty wasn’t too pleased that her lips were detached from Cordelia’s for all of two seconds, and she made this known by fiercely capturing an earlobe between teeth and biting down. Cordelia let out a breathy moan and tilted her head to let Misty do that and whatever else she pleased. Her body was Misty’s playground and she decided right then that Misty could play as long as she liked.

If the way she clutched Cordelia’s throat with a delicate grip before pressing a series of burning kisses down the other side were any indication, she wanted to play all night.

Cordelia had forgone all inhibitions by now and bared her neck further to let the stimulation take over all of her senses. Misty could steal all of them from Cordelia; her sight, smell, hearing, touch, and _taste_ \- the last one making her knees buckle slightly. She wasn’t sure where they’d end up after this, but Misty seemed content to spend all night making her mark along her neck and the pale curve of her collarbone. For one glorious prolonged moment, she let herself be taken advantage of in all the best ways.

Then Misty shoved her knee between Cordelia’s legs, bunching her dress up with it and making direct contact with her soaked underwear. The wetness Misty had created there burned her from the inside out like wildfire sparking from dry leaves.

Suddenly, Cordelia gasped out and stiffened.

Misty dropped her knee back down as she murmured a _sorry_ that didn’t sound like she was very sorry at all. In fact, she continued to try and place another kiss on her mouth when Cordelia pulled back; this time all the way out of Misty’s embrace and back towards the opposite wall.

Swallowing the visible lump in her throat, Cordelia couldn’t tell if she was speaking out loud to herself or to Misty. “ _What am I doing_? I can’t - I _can’t_ do this. What the fuck is wrong with me?” She desperately tried to wipe the smear of both their lipstick colors off her face while trying to make sense of where her head had been for the last twenty minutes. Tucking a lock of her mussed hair behind an ear and taking in staggering breaths, she looked at Misty as if she’d taken rose colored glasses off.

“I have a boyfriend.” She said this with finality and certainty, like she expected Misty to nod and leave her alone so self hatred could make the next set of decisions for her.

Misty didn’t move or say anything for a moment, merely wiping her wet mouth off with the back of her hand. It made Cordelia angry with her, the way she seemed so calm like this had no affect on her life whatsoever. It also made Cordelia angry with herself, that she let her foolish fantasies take control and cloud her judgment.

With Cordelia staring so intently at her, all Misty could manage to mutter was, “Yeah,” and then after a pause, “I know.”

It was like a dam broke, and in the next second Cordelia was unlocking the stall door with unsteady fingers, rushing out of the bathroom and back into the bustling crowd. She swore she heard a faint, ‘ _Cordelia, wait_ ’ but she was already out of the bar doors and into the dark night. The unseasonably warm spring air did nothing to soothe the chill in her bones that ached with every step further she took away from the bar. From Misty.

From the field beyond the parking lot, the cicadas and crickets hiding in plain sight were rushing to create a harmony that sounded a lot like they were mocking her; as if they were murmuring and laughing, asking, _what is the matter with you?_

With trembling lips and equally trembling fingers, Cordelia pulled her phone out and dialed the one number she knew by heart.

Coco picked up on the first ring.  
  
“Can you come and get me?” She hoped Coco could understand her through the sobs and hiccups.

“Don’t move, I’m on my way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ..................................hi again.
> 
> thank you for the very sweet comments on my first chapter, it makes my heart warm to say the least.
> 
> comments, questions, concerns are all welcomed here or @ moonmotels on tumblr, @moonmotels1 on twitter.


	3. if you send for me, you know I'll come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Please," she pleaded, "Just let me go so I can get over you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Then wear the gold hat, if that will move her;  
> If you can bounce high, bounce for her too,  
> Till she cry "lover, gold-hatted, high bouncing lover,  
> I must have you!"  
> -Thomas Parke D'Invilliers

Checking to see that her bed mate was still knocked out cold, Coco sighed and hit dial on Cordelia’s phone.

It took eight rings for Hank to pick up, and by that time she wasn’t privy to niceties. “Hello, Hank, it’s Coco. Just thought you should know that I took Cordelia out with me last night and she’ll be home later. Thanks _so_ much for checking on her.”

Hank’s gruff voice made her proceed to roll her eyes. It was nearly eleven am and he sounded like he’d just rolled out of bed. “Jesus, Coco. I just got up for work like two seconds ago, you didn’t give me a chance to call. Is she okay?”

“Yeah, no thanks to you.” Coco checked her nails nonchalantly as she waited for his pathetic excuses as to why he didn’t chase after her, begging on his knees asking her not to leave him.

“Well I’m not particularly in the mood for being talked to like this so tell her I’ll be home later, alright?”

“You’ll be lucky if your shit’s not in a garbage bag on the front lawn. And not that you asked, but Eric asking her out was all my idea so take it a little easier next time, could ya? Thanks. Bye.”

She hung up before Hank could reply back with his usual snark.

Tossing the phone on the nightstand, Coco stood up and stretched her legs before walking over to the side of the bed Cordelia was taking up space on. Still very much asleep and still very much in last night’s clothes, Coco had to laugh. Seeing Cordelia the morning after she drank never failed to be the funniest thing she’d see all day. With her makeup smeared and hair going every which direction, Cordelia looked like a washed up version of her typical ensemble, so naturally Coco snapped a few photos for later blackmail use. After giggling to herself and posing in half a dozen pictures with Cordelia’s sleeping figure, she lightly tapped her back with manicured fingers.

“Wake up drunkie, your best friend has been waiting _all_ night to hear about what you did.”

When Coco had picked Cordelia up, the latter was a babbling mess of incoherent phrases and sobs, only able to choke out a string of words that sounded like ‘Hank,’ ‘fight,’ ‘Eric,’ ‘tequila,’ ‘Misty,’ ‘bathroom,’ and ‘kiss.’ Coco had never been good at word games and wanted the details as soon as possible, never mind how hungover Cordelia was likely going to be.

The previous night when she had offered Cordelia a makeup wipe and clothes to sleep in, the latter had drunkenly fought her off and made it _very_ clear that she deserved to sleep in her uncomfortable dress after what she’d done. Thus Coco’s interest was peaked, presuming it must have been something pretty bad.

Cordelia slowly blinked her eyes open and they immediately flew shut as she mumbled, “Too bright.”

“Oh shit, that’s my bad, let me close them,” Coco rushed over to crack the window and shut the blinds as tight as possible. “There, some fresh air and no more sun. Can you stop being a little bitch now and tell me what happened?” She stalked back over and lightly shoved Cordelia off her half of the bed and crawled under the covers.

Cordelia was immediately attracted to her warmth and snuggled closer to it, wearily dropping her head in the crook of Coco’s arm like she’d spent all night traveling and needed a place to lay it down. “I don’t want to talk about it. At all. Ever.”

“Well that fucking sucks,” she fixed Cordelia with a gaze that told her she had no choice but to spill everything. To encourage her into speaking, she ran her fingers lovingly through Cordelia’s hair and held her limp body close. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Taking a deep breath, Cordelia opened her mouth and started speaking. “Well, I fought with Hank over Eric’s number -”

Coco interrupted her, “Yes, you yelled at me about that in the car. I called Hank and fixed that situation right up.”

“Wait, I did? I don’t remember yelling at you. And _you_ called him? When? Jesus, he’s probably so mad I didn’t come home. I slapped him, Co. Hard.”

“God, and you didn’t take photographic evidence for me? Yes, you yelled at me and _yes_ I told him that we spent the night together. _All_ night,” she added for good measure. “So kindly fast forward to the juicy parts, you were a fucking mess when I picked you up.”

Cordelia sighed and clutched a fistful of Coco’s t-shirt. “Well, I couldn’t sit in my house with him after we fought, so I took Misty up on her offer to go out for her friend’s birthday. And then I got there and just-” she paused to take a deep breath, “lost it.” She wailed once, loudly, and Coco pulled her into a sitting position where she began rocking them back and forth.

“Sh, shh, it’s okay. It’s okay. Hank doesn’t seem mad anymore.”

“No,” Cordelia sobbed, “It’s not Hank. I fucked up with Misty. So badly, Co.” She reached over to grab a tissue from Coco’s nightstand and blew her nose loudly, to which Coco fake gagged at.

“I’m growing grey hairs here.”

“I _kissed_ her. One second I was watching her dance, and the next second I was practically dry humping her in a bathroom stall, two seconds away from asking her to fuck me.” Cordelia was still crying at this point, hungover and more miserable than she’d ever been in her life.

Coco had yet to say anything or even move an inch, and Cordelia glanced up to make sure she’d been listening. “Co?”

Her eyes were fixated on the ceiling as if she were trying to picture this entire exchange in her mind. “Hold on. I need a minute. Or five. You’ve just changed me as a person. Holy _fuck_ ,” she exclaimed, too loudly for Cordelia’s pounding head, “I didn’t think you had it in you.”

Excitedly, she pressed on, “So you’re telling me that you, Miss ‘ _I'_ _m in a committed relationship'_ , Cordelia Goode, was making out in a bar bathroom like a fucking twenty one year old? God, this is already so amazing. Please continue.”

“There’s nothing more to say,” Cordelia grumbled. “I fucked up and now my life is a mess and two people hate me because of it.”

“Well number one, Hank doesn’t hate you. Does he even have enough brain capacity to do that? And two, why would Misty hate you? Didn’t you kiss her first? Was it a friendly makeout or like a ‘I wanna finger fuck your brains out’ kiss?”

“Oh my _God_ ,” Cordelia clutched at her head in pain, “The second one. She was telling me about how I- I’ve changed her since we met and that I’m the woman of her dreams.”

Shifting uncomfortably, she sniffled again, “And all of a sudden this rush of emotion came over me and I just started kissing her. I kissed her, and she let me. Then I had this moment of clarity where I realized I’d lost fucking my mind and I yelled at her because I’m still with Hank. And now she hates me. Which I clearly deserve.”

Well that was- _not_ what Coco expected.

Pausing her with a careful hand thrown up in the air, Coco tried to get her facts straight. “Okay, so you were dancing with Misty, which is within the normal boundaries of a friendship, and then the next second you were just all over her? At what point did you realize you wanted to do this? God, this is such a classic romance film, except the other person usually isn’t a woman. You’ve got kudos there.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes dramatically and bit the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know, I mean obviously I was drunk but I remember thinking about how badly I wanted to kiss her all night. And then we were in the stall and there was no one but the two of us. After she told me about how she’d been thinking about me, I just did it. I would have been more angry with myself if I hadn’t done it.”

“But then you yelled at her? For something you wanted to do?” 

  
“Don’t make me feel worse,” Cordelia sobbed, “I didn’t mean to yell. I was just so fucking angry with myself, and she was there to get the full wrath of it. I told her that I couldn’t be doing this and that I had a boyfriend at home.”

Coco prodded carefully this time, “And what did she say?”

“She acted so calm, and all I remember was this anger flaring inside me when she told me she knows that I have a boyfriend. Like it didn’t bother her.”

Coco sighed, humming for a moment to gather her thoughts. Cordelia had been in sticky situations before, but this one required some extra problem solving. “Don’t you think it does bother her, Cords? That Hank is an issue?”

Placing her hand on the smooth skin of Coco’s knee and hiding her face back in the curve of her neck, Cordelia took a moment to reply. “I mean, I guess it does. That would make sense. I didn’t really give her time to say much of anything.” All she felt now was hopelessness, like she’d had something _so_ good in the palm of her hands and it slipped right on through like sand.

“And don’t you think that you probably confused her by kissing her first?” Coco was clearly trying to get at something here that Cordelia refused to even admit to herself. It would take a lot for Cordelia to say it out loud, the sensation in her gut twisting like barbed wire at the mere thought of it. It was too much, but the force of her liking Misty would beat at her until she started to crack underneath the pressure like an egg. Slowly, she felt those cracks begin to splinter wider and wider until she opened her mouth and began speaking the truth.

The spring breeze rolled in through the cracked window, the blinds dancing gently against the windowsill making Cordelia wish she was anywhere but here, somewhere she could forget about everyone and everything for weeks, maybe months. “Co, I can’t,” she whispered, “I can’t like her. I- I have Hank. And I have a life. I can’t drop those because I want to be with her.” Her last few words rushed out like they were racing to be spoken before Cordelia changed her mind and kept them inside under strict lock and key.

Coco didn’t say anything, wanting Cordelia to realize her select choice of words. She waited for a moment, intensely hoping her brain would get caught up in sync with her heart. When Cordelia neglected to do anything but clutch at her tighter, Coco started rubbing soft circles against the tense muscles in her back.

“I could make so many jokes right now, but I think I’ll refrain. You want to be with her, babe? You really do?”

Cordelia started trembling; slowly at first, then harder like she was tumbling down in an avalanche without the ability to stop the fall. Then the tears started, too many for her to blink away or try to hide. With an elongated sigh, Cordelia resigned herself to disclosing the one thing that had tugged so tightly at her heartstrings the last few days.

“Yes. I do, so much. It’s all I can think about. It’s eating away at me from the inside out.”

Grateful for Coco’s unwavering support; both emotional and physical, Cordelia shuddered with full blown sobs that threatened to spill into absolute hysteria. If you had told her a week ago that she was on the cusp of ruining everything she’d spent years building all for some woman she’d met and spent three hours with, she would have closed the door in your face. But she was here, and this was her reality. It felt like she’d simultaneously ruined her life and started the next chapter of it with one clean cut. Possibly the most reckless thing she’d ever do with her life would be leaving Hank for Misty, but the relief was knowing the only outcome of doing this would be positive. There was no doubt in Cordelia’s mind that Misty would treat her with the utmost care, something she’d been craving for years. Something she’d _deserved_ for years. All that was left was getting everyone else on board.

Coco held her for the next few moments while Cordelia continued to sob out her emotions, likely ruining the front of her dress and Coco’s t-shirt in the process. She only let go long enough to get up and make them a small breakfast of eggs and toast that she brought back to eat in bed. Cordelia graciously accepted the plate and began eating cautiously, not to upset her stomach any further.

Cautiously, Coco chose her next words with delicacy. “What do you think you’re going to do now?”

Cordelia carefully set her fork down and placed the plate down next to her thigh. Coco could see the thoughts turning over in her mind, the _what ifs_ and the pros and cons. Shaking her head back and forth, she whispered, “I don’t know. I have to talk to him.”

Knowing exactly what Cordelia meant, Coco soldiered on to be her biggest support system while still maintaining her tough love archetype. “Maybe you should talk to Misty too?” Gently, she asked this, already knowing Cordelia would vehemently deny up and down that she should talk to the one person she needed to most.

What came out of Cordelia’s mouth surprised her.

“Yeah, I guess I should. It’s now or never. Give me my phone.”

“Wait - what? You wanna call her right now? Like this?” Coco gestured towards her unusual attire and still smeared makeup.

Glancing down at herself, Cordelia replied apathetically, “I said call, not FaceTime.”

“ _Jesus_ , whatever. Your funeral.” She tossed Cordelia’s phone to her, who fumbled it for a moment before shifting away from Coco’s embrace.

Taking a deep breath, she hit dial and placed the phone to her ear. From where she was sitting, Coco could manage to make out most of the conversation.

When Misty picked up, she could already hear the tension in her tone.

“Hi, Cordelia. What do you want?”

_You, us, this, forever._

Cordelia sighed, “I just want to talk to you, Misty. Explain myself.”

“There’s not much to explain. I’m a little busy right now, so if that’s all I really should get going.”

Cordelia’s pained expression was spelt out through her words. Taking in a breath that Coco could tell was a struggle, Cordelia dropped her tone, “Please, Misty. Do you have any time to talk to me today?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I can come over later because I don’t want to do this over the phone. _Maybe_. I’m not saying I will.”

That’s all Cordelia needed. “Okay,” she nearly cried out, too focused on evening out her breathing to notice Misty’s tentative decision, “Okay. I’ll send you my address. My boyf- Hank works late today.”

“Alright. Bye, Delia.”

“Bye, Misty.” The line went dead.

When Cordelia chucked her phone towards the end of the bed, she turned around to face Coco’s gleaming smile. “So? How’d it go? Did she profess her love?”

“I could hit you sometimes.”

“Yeah, but you love me. Anyway, this is good, she’ll come over and you can talk through your shit. That’s so sexy of you, talking your problems out like a healthy adult woman that’s in a weird, twisted love triangle.”

“There is no triangle. It’s Hank and I, and Misty in the background somewhere."

“Yeah...so, the definition of a triangle.” She laughed and tried to dodge the pillow Cordelia roughly threw in her direction, getting struck across the head with with it anyway. Dramatically acting like she’d been shot, Coco hung over the edge of the bed in mock pain.

“I’m taking a shower,” Cordelia called out, already halfway to the bathroom.

Coco sat up too quickly, rushing to yell, “Don’t use my good shampoo!”

“Too late!”

An hour later, Cordelia was being chauffeured back home by Coco, who was humming along to some god awful rap song she had on her playlist. Feeling tremendously less sick than she had that morning, the only things weighing on her mind now were the next inevitable steps she knew she had to take. Starting to feel queasy with the possibility of what the near future held, Cordelia held out her palm as she silently watched the outside world rush by in a dizzying motion. Coco took one hand off the wheel and squeezed it in solidarity, not letting go until they pulled into Cordelia’s driveway.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright when she comes over? I can just hang out in the kitchen or something, in case she comes at you swinging.”

“ _No_ ,” Cordelia replied, “Your presence will only make me more nervous.” She felt a swell of nausea ride up, threatening to ruin her carefully crafted exterior. Climbing slowly out of the passenger's seat, she paused for a moment, looking back at Coco’s figure in the driver’s seat. “I love you. Thank you.”

“It’s my job, babe. Call me immediately after she leaves, yeah?”  
  
“Yeah. Bye, Co.”

After saying hello to Dobby and managing to clean every inch of space in her household like Misty would want a detailed tour of the attic and basement, Cordelia sat tersely on the edge of her couch to wait for the text to say she was on her way. Misty had texted her earlier, saying she had time after her shift at the cafe to talk to Cordelia. She hadn’t seemed too keen on the idea of speaking to Cordelia, let alone the prospect of even coming over. The two of them sharing a space alone wasn’t exactly her idea of fun anymore.

Cordelia’s phone buzzed, alerting her to a message from Misty that said she was five minutes away. Cordelia froze for a moment, a wave of spine tingling apprehensiveness ghosting up her spine. She tried to calm herself down by holding Dobby’s tiny body in her lap, but his presence did very little to shake her nerves. When Misty knocked on her door, Cordelia nearly cried for the umpteenth time today.

Walking over to the door on unsteady legs, she paused for a moment with her hand on the doorknob. What would inevitably come next was likely going to be one of the hardest conversations she would ever have. She clasped the door handle and opened it to reveal the prettiest, softest woman Cordelia would blind herself a thousand times over just to see once more.

“Hi.”

Misty crossed her arms around her stomach in an attempt to close herself off. From the floor to ceiling, Cordelia could see her walls come up and place dozens of obstacles between them. All she wanted to do was scale them and prove her unwavering devotion to this beautiful, fucked up thing between them.

“Hi.”

“You can like, come in. Please. Dobby’s around here somewhere.”

With that reminder, Misty brightened up and stepped into the threshold. “How is he?”

Grateful that they didn’t start off with semantics right off the bat, Cordelia couldn’t help but smile. “Oh, he’s great. I think he really likes it here. He prefers sleeping right next to me like he’s afraid I’ll take him back.”

Misty huffed out a laugh, mumbling under her breath, “ _Can I be jealous of a cat_?”

“What was that?”

“Nothing. Has he been eating?”

Cordelia took the opportunity to launch into a full discussion about how well Dobby had acclimated, especially how much he enjoys scratches at the dip between his eyes and nose. She picked him up from where he was snoozing peacefully in a patch of glittering sunlight from the bay window, bringing him over to drop in Misty’s lap.

He seemed to recognize Misty, purring delightfully when she scratched his favorite spot and cooed over him like it had been years since they saw each other. Cordelia’s heart simultaneously swelled and shattered at the captivating scene in front of her. Partially because she was watching it happen, and partially because it wasn’t hers to see every day.

After a while Dobby got bored and hopped off Misty’s lap in hopes to find something more entertaining. Cordelia wanted to run after him and force him to be a distraction for the remainder of this conversation, but Misty persuaded her by placing a careful palm on her knee.

“What did you want to talk about?”

Cordelia stiffened for a brief moment, avoiding all eye contact. Glancing around the room, she swallowed visibly, “I just wanted to give you an explanation.”

“You kissed me first, Cordelia. And then got mad at me for it. There’s not much to explain.” Misty didn’t sound mad or even remotely perturbed at this point. It sounded like she’d accepted it, ready to move on and put this blip on the radar behind her.

Cordelia didn’t want that. She wanted Misty to know what this meant for her, how badly she had craved it. How badly she _still_ craved it. Shaking her head imperceptibly, she forced herself to start this confession.

“I kissed you because I wanted to. I can’t apologize for that. But I realize that I have commitments that make this difficult, so I can apologize on that behalf. I’m sorry I yelled at you, and that I took advantage of your feelings.”

“I shouldn’t have said anything in the first place. And I’m probably equally to blame here too. I let you kiss me knowing-” she trailed off, her eyes focused on the picture frame containing a photo of Hank and Cordelia dancing at his brother’s wedding. Cordelia had been inexplicably happy that day, the look on her face proving it. Misty’s heart clenched and she had to look away before the pain got any worse.

“No-“ Cordelia stopped her self blame, wanting to fend off every negative thought Misty had about the situation. “No, you had every right to tell me that. It was my fault for, you know.” She gestured towards the space in between them.

“Getting to second base with me in a bathroom stall?”

Cordelia felt her tense shoulder muscles loosen at Misty’s partial joke. “Yeah, that.”

“Well that’s fine, then. I guess that’s it. It was very nice to meet you Cordelia, I can’t deny that. Let me know how Dobby is from time to time.” Misty was halfway off the couch before Cordelia could comprehend what she was saying.

“Wait, I-“

Misty perched on the edge of the couch, an unreadable look on her expression. “What?”

“You’re just going to leave? For good?” Cordelia felt her heart drop through her chest, head spinning with this revelation Misty had seemed to come to.

Misty cocked her head to the side, perplexed that Cordelia hadn’t let her walk out the door. “Why would I stay? You have a boyfriend, remember?” She reminded Cordelia gently as if it wasn’t haunting her every waking move. “There’s nothing else for me here.”

She went to get up again, when Cordelia clenched her jaw muscles and spit out, “What if there is something here for you?”

There it was. Out in the open for interpretation. Noting how her muscles tensed up again, Cordelia didn’t feel like a weight had been lifted off her back. Instead, it was like a two ton brick had been placed on top of the already backbreaking weight of emotion she’d been feeling. There was nothing in her that felt better, not even in the slightest. She felt raw and cracked open, like Misty could take a peek inside at her heart and decide if she wanted the already broken pieces of it.

Misty’s voice sounded small, like she wasn’t sure she’d heard that correctly. “Cordelia, I can't do this.”

Cordelia pinched the bridge of her nose, wishing the breeze coming in from the bay window would sweep her weightless body into the air, far far away from this. “Then why did you come here?”

Misty had been selfish, coming to see Cordelia for her own personal gain. If she was never going to see or hear from her again, she needed one final look for her own masochistic tendencies. “I had to come so that my last image wasn’t you crying and running away from me. Is that what you wanted to hear?” Her upper lip quivered, daring to try and delay the tears that hovered in her eyes until she was alone.

“Please,” she pleaded, “Just let me go so I can get over you.”

Her own lip quivering, Cordelia managed to get her words out without crying. “I don’t want that. I don’t want you to get over me.”

Misty’s eyes went as wide as saucers, and her fingers that had been brushing over the seam of Cordelia’s couch started trembling like leaves on trees. She was brimming with untapped emotion that threatened to spill out all over Cordelia’s nice carpet. “Cordelia, please.” Her voice got thin, “Don’t lie to me. I’m not in any state of mind to be played with.”

“I’m not lying to you.”

Everything went silent for a beat, even Dobby froze his movements from where he was batting a toy around on the floor. Cordelia could feel her heartbeat pounding in her own ears, afraid Misty could see it thumping in her chest like a jackhammer.

“What are you saying?” Her words stammered out, afraid of being spoken into the air in fear Cordelia was playing a sick mind game with her.

“I’m saying that I want to be with you. Or whatever you’re willing to give me. I just need to work out a few things.”

“You’re serious?” Misty’s porcelain complexion was taut with an expression that looked like Cordelia had just shifted her entire world view in the last twenty seconds. The air in her lungs was coming out in jagged breaths, like the wind had been knocked out of them and she couldn’t catch back up to resume normal breathing.

“I’ve never been more serious in my life.”

She contemplated for a minute, suspicious likely being an understatement. “I don’t want to be the other woman, Cordelia. I’m worth more than that.”

“I’m not asking you to be. I’m just asking you to wait for me.”

Misty looked down at the floor for a moment, observing the immensity of Cordelia’s confession and how much it had cost her to say it out loud. All Cordelia wanted to do now was tell Misty that her furrowed brow and the adorable look on her face made her all the more kissable, but instead dug her nails into her palms to keep herself level headed.

When Misty glanced up, she tried to search Cordelia’s face for any signs of fabrication. When her eyes met Cordelia’s, she knew it was real. What Cordelia felt was _real_. It was an instantaneous reaction, and with her heartbeat pounding in her throat, Misty reached out for Cordelia’s hand as though she were a straggler reaching for salvation. Cordelia took it a step further and reached up to cradle Misty’s cheeks and press their foreheads together. The tears overflowed and overwhelmed her vision, dripping down into the space between her and Misty without shame.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry we met like this.”

Misty gripped the back of her neck with a gentle hand and sighed out, “S’okay. At least we met. It feels like I’ve been waiting for something my entire life and it came in my shop doors lookin’ a whole lot like you.”

Cordelia choked out a mixture of a laugh and sob, her frame rattling and knocking their foreheads together with every breath. The prospect of having this in her arms every morning and night made Cordelia want to renew her faith in every god known to man, because there was no way Misty wasn’t an ethereal being that somehow managed to end up on earth.

Pulling back as if looking at Misty with new eyes, Cordelia tugged her bottom lip between teeth and contemplated something for a moment. She swiped the lone tear that had fallen from the corner of Misty’s eye with her thumb just as Misty fixated her with a gaze that spelled out the lust and desire burning inside her. Cordelia’s eyes flickered between cerulean eyes and the lips she wanted to put her mouth on again, this time without ever coming up for air.

Misty beat her to it, tugging Cordelia in for a kiss that exploded light into the deepest caverns of her heart. This time, the kiss wasn’t reckless or fueled by alcoholic induced fantasies; but instead a promise of the thousands more to come.

Over and over, Cordelia kissed Misty gently with the hopes that she understood how badly she wanted to do this every morning, noon, and night for the rest of her life. It wasn’t a rushed, breathless moment in time that Cordelia felt the need to pull away from. In the soft afternoon light, these were kisses that spoke gentle expressions of adoration without so much as a word. Cordelia’s entire body was thrumming frantically like a hummingbird every time Misty clutched at her like she couldn’t believe that she was holding this in her arms.

With every sweet gasp and moan that tumbled out of Misty’s mouth, Cordelia fell deeper and deeper into a canyon full of sweet nothings that she thought could keep her there forever. She swallowed those moans up like she was starving and they were the only things that could quench her lifelong hunger.

Right up until the front door swung open and Hank walked through.

From their position on the couch, Cordelia had all of two seconds to wrench herself away from Misty and put three feet of space in between them. Her chest heaved as she desperately tried to wipe her mouth off and fix her mussed hair. When Hank came around the corner, he had a fake plastered smile on his face, carrying a bouquet of flowers that were nearly as large as he was.

When he spotted Misty, he did a double take before leaning down to kiss Cordelia on the same mouth that had just been all over Misty’s. “Hi, babe. These are for you.” Angling his head so that he was speaking directly to her, he continued softly, “Coco told me that it was her idea. I’m sorry.”

Straightening up, he handed her the flowers which she tentatively accepted. Smoothing the front of her blouse down, she waited until Hank plopped himself down in the armchair across from the couch. Misty was looking at everything but her, feigning interest in the drapes and the color scheme of her couch cushions. Clearing her throat, once, twice, then finally a third time, Cordelia peeped out, “Hank, this is Misty. She’s the one who works at the cat cafe where I got Dobby.”

“Ah, that’s really nice of you. She loves that thing. Dobby, I mean.” Hank relaxed in the chair and shot Cordelia a quizzical look, questioning why Misty was in their house in the middle of the day.

Trying to sound nonchalant and not at all like she’d been kissing Misty five minutes prior, Cordelia sat up and asked, “Why are you home so early? I thought you worked until nine.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Hank breezily replied, “I skipped out early so I could spend time with my girl. Is that such a crime?” He chuckled and the noise proceeded to make Cordelia’s skin crawl. She dared to glance over at Misty, who had yet to make any movement or speak a lick of a word.

Hank then directed his gaze towards her as well. “So, Misty? How long have you worked at that place? I bet Cordelia’s your number one customer, huh? She drinks coffee like it’s water.” His genuine ease and laid back demeanor made Cordelia want to scream, cry, and run out of the house in that order.

Sounding incredibly calm, Misty answered his questions breezily. “Only for about a year and a half, but I’ve been manager for a little over six months. They must really trust me, I guess,” her following laugh sounded like a chorus of angels to Cordelia. “And I really only met her last week, but I thought she preferred tea?”

She lazily pointed at Cordelia, whose cheeks flared red as she nodded affirmatively. Continuing, she cocked her head and seemed to grow bold. “How long have you two been together again?”

Cordelia choked on her spit. Hank, too engrossed in trying to play with Dobby’s string toy didn’t seem to catch the wild look she threw at Misty. “Babe, why don’t you answer that. You know I always forget. Ten years, eleven? Who fucking knows at this point, all I know is that we still put up with each other’s shit.”

“It’s been nine years, Hank,” Cordelia replied tensely. Misty could see her fighting back the urge to scream, shooting her a look that told her to _calm down_. “On the seventeenth of this month.”

“Nine best years of my life, babe.” Hank got up and walked over to lean down and kiss Cordelia’s cheek, asking her and Misty, “Anyone want a beer?”

When they both responded in the negative, he threw his hands up in mock surrender. “More for me, ladies.” When he went to leave the room, Misty quickly got up and announced, “I should probably get going. Those cats won’t feed themselves,” hinting at something, she threw Cordelia a sideways glance.

Quick to catch on, Cordelia hurriedly rushed to reply, “I’ll walk you to the door.”

As he retreated into the kitchen, Hank called out, “It was nice to meet you,” in his usual bored tone, too distracted by which beer he was going to chug down.

When he turned the corner and out of sight, Misty grabbed Cordelia’s hand and kissed the knuckles. She didn’t drop it until they walked to the front door together, where she cupped the swell of Cordelia’s cheek and smiled fondly. Lowering her tone, she whispered, “He’s kind of a dick, yeah? This whole time I thought he was a goddamn angel to you. It makes it easier.”

Cordelia dropped her head and laughed heartily, not caring if Hank saw her heart leaping out of her chest into Misty’s deserving hands. “Yeah,” she confirmed, “He is.”

Bucking up, she finished, “I just need a little time, is that okay?”

Misty feigned innocence for a moment before biting back a laugh. “Yeah, baby. I can wait, but only because I think you’re worth it. Although,” she leaned in to brush her lips across Cordelia’s before wickedly pulling back, “I won’t wait forever.” When she smirked and went to walk out, Cordelia blinked herself out of a haze made up of daydreams involving Misty and nothing else.

And just like that, she was out the door with one final parting glance and small wave of her fingers. Closing the door and leaning against the back of it, Cordelia counted all her blessings that Hank hadn’t walked into something more scandalous. Her entire body was alive with an exquisite hymn that sang from deep inside her soul.

With a deep sigh, she walked back into kitchen where Hank was waiting for her with a beer in his hand at the kitchen table. Leaning against the counter for stability, she barely squeaked out, “Hi, again. Can we talk for a minute?”

Barely glancing up from where he was scrolling through his phone, he replied, “Hey, yeah, can it wait? Nick’s coming over to play basketball in five. Your friend Misty is cool, babe. She’s hot, but she takes care of cats for a living? She could be like, a stripper.”

Cordelia resisted every urge to tell Hank to fuck off back to whatever level of Hell he came from, instead brusquely replying, “She runs the goddamn place, Hank. Don’t diminish her down to her looks. She’s extremely smart and talented.”

“Yeah, noted. I’m just saying. Can our talk wait or not?”

Already halfway out of the room, Cordelia threw back, “Yeah, sure. Whatever.”

Several hours later, Cordelia was scrolling through Pinterest and waiting patiently for Nick to leave so she could cut the cord that was blocking her from Misty. She hated Nick and his god awful timing, but hated herself more for waiting so long to break up with Hank. Remembering that she’d forgotten to call Coco, she excitedly dialed her number and flopped down on her stomach lengthways across her bed.

Coco picked up, immediately wondering, “Did you do it yet? I’ve been waiting all fucking day. What did he say? What did she say?”

“Can I have ten seconds to breathe? I talked to Misty, I didn’t talk to Hank yet.”

“Okay, and? Remember when I told you I was growing grey hairs? I’m a full on granny by now, so can you please just tell me?”

Huffing slightly, Cordelia launched into a discussion about what she and Misty talked about. “Co, she was so ready to put all of this behind her, like it meant nothing. And I couldn’t just let her walk out of the door, so I told her everything.”

“ _Everything_? My God, who are you and what have you done to Cordelia?”

“Everything,” she confirmed, “And I told her that I want to be with her, but I need time, you know?”

“ _Fuck_ , yes. What did she say?” Coco was brimming with excitement, this exchange being the only thing she’d wanted for the entire duration of her and Cordelia’s friendship. “I’m so excited. I knew this day would come eventually. It’s like I spoke it into existence.”

“She thought I was lying to her at first. Co, you should have seen her face. It broke my fucking heart, so I had to tell her that I want her, that I want to be with her.” She paused, giddy like a teenager in high school rushing to give her best friend the gossip, “And then she kissed me. _She_ kissed me. First.”

Coco didn’t give her usual animated reply, instead taking a moment to silently digest this. When she finally found her voice, it wasn’t her typical witty banter. “I’m so happy for you. I mean that, I really am. I feel like if anyone deserves this, it’s you. But for the love of God, can you get rid of Hank?”

Cordelia sobbed out a laugh, thanking her profusely and replying, “Yeah, hold on. Let me see if he’s up.” She strained to hear the sound of him and Nick chattering. Instead, all she heard was the low murmur of the television and the accompanying snores coming from Hank on the couch.

“God, he’s asleep, Co. I’ll have to do it tomorrow first thing.”

“Yeah, can you? I can’t wait to throw a fucking party.”

“I’m not letting you do th-“ Cordelia’s phone began buzzing, alerting her to another call. “Co, can I call you back? Someone’s calling me.”

“Yeah, bye, love you.”

Cordelia hit accept, barely glancing at it long enough to recognize the name.

“Hi, Misty,” she breathed out, too excited to hear her voice even after having heard it all afternoon.

“Oh, hi there, Delia.” Misty’s voice sounded light, airy and a _little_ -

“Misty, are you drunk?”

A giggle.

“Maybe I am. Queenie took me out because I told her that I didn’t cry today when we talked. She was proud of me, I guess. She also made me promise not to call you but, well, here I am.” She ended her sentence with an adorable hiccup that made Cordelia smile widely.

“Yeah, I’m proud of you, too. Did you have a nice time with Queenie? I hope she doesn’t hate me for the other night.”

“Oh, _no_ , babydoll. My friends loved you, but they were worried I did something to you that made you upset, so I had to tell them. Is that okay?”

“Yes,” Cordelia broke out in a fit of laughter, “I told Coco everything.”  
  
“S’okay then, we’re even. What’s Hank doing?”

Cordelia balked for a second, wondering why Misty switched the subject and wanted to know so badly. “He’s sleeping downstairs right now, why?” She could hear Misty shift on whatever surface she was lying on, and Cordelia was immediately pulsing with an inkling of what she was about to do. “Misty, where are you?”

Another soft giggle. “He’s not worshipping you right now like you deserve? That’s such a shame. I can’t wait to take over for him. I’m on my bed, Delia.”

The world tilted underneath Cordelia, even though she was on her bed and still very much upright. Deciding that she was tired of fighting every pulse of desire that called out Misty’s name, she herself shifted down on the bed and relaxed. “And what exactly are you doing?”

Misty sounded amused that Cordelia seemed engaged already, boldly answering, “I was touching myself. But then I thought you might need a little incentive.”

A jolt of arousal flooded Cordelia’s system at the confession, and she squeezed her eyes and thighs shut simultaneously. “Incentive for what?” She dropped her tone, her voice oozing with lust after every vowel.

The answer came immediately, “For what you’re gonna have when you leave your boyfriend.”

 _That can’t come soon enough._ “I’d love to hear it, then.” In the moment, she let her mind become completely consumed with the idea of Misty, letting her take over every thought and ruining all sense of rational behavior. She heedlessly threw glance over at the locked bedroom door, not caring about Hank because she knew he could sleep through an earthquake and subsequent tsunami.

“Well at first, I was just thinking about your cute lil lips and that soft skin a’ yours. And how nice it felt to kiss you today.”

While she was talking in that _fucking_ voice _,_ Cordelia sighed out a moan, arching her back and spreading her legs simultaneously. She teased her fingers at the edge of her underwear, stopping just before she went too far and lost it before Misty even got to the good parts. “And then what were you thinking of?” She could hear Misty adjust herself on her bed, picturing her there with no clothes on, hand between her legs, glistening wet _and-_

“That first bit really got me goin’, so I let my mind wander a little. Is that okay, Delia?”

“ _Yes_ ,” she breathed, “More than okay. Please tell me more.”

Humming her delight at the confirmation, Misty shifted topics, needy for Cordelia’s breathy moans. “Can you touch yourself for me? I’d really like that.”

Cordelia tossed her head back on the pillow and dipped her fingers inside the lace barrier to dance them through slippery wet skin. The ensuing moan at how aroused she was already seemed to please Misty immensely. “I’ll take that as a confirmation.”

Resuming, her soft accent drifted into Cordelia’s ears once more as she answered the earlier plea. “I started thinking about peeling your fancy blouse off, what you’d look like underneath. Prob’ly a fuckin’ _dream_ ,” she audibly exhaled. “You seem like the type to have some fancy lingerie on, am I right?”

The older of the two lifted her sleep shirt up to remind herself which one she had pulled on after coming home this morning. “Yeah,” she grinned, “you are. Black lace,” she added quickly, wanting to give Misty the visual.

“Mm. That sounds real sexy of ya.” A contemplating pause. “Take it off.” Cordelia wordlessly completed the demand without question.

She then strained to listen, swearing she could hear the telltale signs of Misty thrusting her fingers inside herself. Misty seemed quite levelheaded despite the overwhelming nature of their conversation and her obvious intoxication. Taking the reins, she continued to tease over the phone. “So then I thought why not take it a step further, think about what’s underneath. I got _really_ wet thinking about putting my mouth on you, flickin’ my tongue over ya through the fabric. I like to tease. Think you’d like that?”

The overwhelming pulse of desire clouded every decision making ability Cordelia had, forcing her to become a babbling mess that spit out an enthusiastic reply. She could picture Misty’s following mischievous grin, the criminally beautiful smile she wanted to see every morning before work and every night afterwards. The low southern drawl interrupted her daydreams once again, pulling them to a screeching halt.

“And _then_ I imagined peeling your underwear down with my teeth, looking up into your eyes the whole time.” She paused to let out a dreamy sigh, “But I got distracted by how sexy your moans would be and how you’d feel writhing under me. How fucking _wet_ you’d be for me.”

Cordelia was beyond aroused by this point, her fingers guiding themselves through velvety smooth wetness like she’d rather die than pull them up and away. At the delicious contact, an elongated moan dropped from her lips. Quickly she began circling her clit, still teasing herself softly despite being near the brink. “Misty _I’m_ \- this isn’t going to take long.” With light touches, she dipped down to coat her fingertips with the copious amounts of wetness Misty had created without even being in the same area code.

“Tell me you want this, Cordelia.” She put Cordelia on speakerphone, so now she could hear how needy Misty actually was. The frenzied wet noises through the phone nearly drove Cordelia to the brink of insanity, about to say _fuck it_ and drive over to wherever Misty was so they could do this properly.

If only she wasn’t seconds away from coming all over herself.

“I do,” Cordelia begged, “Mist- so badly. You’re all I think about.” She tensed her muscles and forced herself to take a deep breath and slow down so she could drag this out all night if possible. Cordelia had never been so titillated in her life, and with every soft moan and whispered word coming from Misty’s mouth she fell deeper and deeper into an endless pit of desire. Swirling her clit with two fingers, she relentlessly pushed herself closer to the edge of the cliff, excited for whatever would meet her at the bottom.

“That’s so good to hear,” finally acknowledging how desperate Cordelia seemed to be, she picked up right where she had left off. “I’m dripping at the thought of spreadin’ your smooth thighs and putting my mouth between your legs to lick ya right up. I bet you taste so good. Will you taste yourself for me?”

It was a plea that Cordelia couldn’t deny even with a gun to her head. Head spinning and body throbbing all over, she planned right then to do anything Misty asked of her from now until the end of eternity.

Nodding silently, she drug two fingers up the length of herself; shuddering when they brushed over her clit. Bringing them up to her mouth, she sucked on them obscenely so Misty could hear her lick up every last drop. Pulling them out with a soft _pop_ , she mumbled, “You were right.”

A needy moan slipped from Misty’s lips. “ _Jesus_ , Cordelia. I wanna make you come so badly. Let me hear it, baby. Please.”

And who was she to deny her that? Beckoning two fingers inside herself, Cordelia quickly put Misty on speaker and began tweaking a nipple between her thumb and forefinger.

“My _God_ ,” she whined, “I haven’t been this wet in a long time.” She pulled her two fingers out to tease one final time, hurriedly thrusting them back inside and picking up a frenzied pace. Choking back moans and swallowing gasps that threatened to fill her entire household, she stroked herself in and out until she was right on the edge.

Angling her hand to swirl her clit with her thumb, she rubbed her fingertips over that soft pad inside that made her cry out _and_ -

 _“_ M- _Misty_ , I - I’m _coming_.”

With Misty’s soothing voice coming over the speaker she fell off the edge and came all over her hand. The bed shook with the following waves that crashed over her, wracking her body gently as if to say, _we’ve got you._ Bright flashes of light burst behind her eyes that were squeezed shut, the force of the orgasm too strong to keep them open. Her mouth was frozen wide, unable to utter anything other than a tiny squeak that launched itself out from the back of her throat.

She’d never felt like this before in the quivering aftershocks; jellied, feverish, and flushed all over.

When she could finally find the words, she gasped out, “I swear to God I’ve never come that hard in my life, Mist. Let me hear you, please.” Cordelia was begging like an animal asking for scraps, but couldn’t bring herself to even remotely care in the exquisite afterglow. Her fingers were still languidly thrusting in and out, delaying the period of time in which they’d have to be removed.

Misty bit back a sinful laugh, this time a hint of evil lacing her tone. “That’s the incentive, Cordelia. You don’t get to hear it yet.”

Devilishly she hung up the phone, leaving behind a thoroughly ruined, trembling mess.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i have a soft spot for this fic but two more chapters should do it:)  
> comments, questions, petitions for me to take over ryan murphy's job are welcomed as usual  
> thank you kindly to my new friend leyla (kiwicordelia) on twitter for editing!!
> 
> moonmotels1 on twitter ladiez and you know where else to find me.


	4. soft to the touch, feels like love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My heart’s been flutterin’ like crazy, I think it’s finally satisfied or somethin’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> “Pylades: I’ll take care of you.  
> Orestes: It’s rotten work.  
> Pylades: Not to me. Not if it’s you.”
> 
> Euripides, from “Orestes”, An Oresteia (trans. Anne Carson)

_You’ve got this, you’re beautiful and I love you. Everything is going to be fine._

Everything is going to be fine. 

Cordelia read the last sentence of Coco’s text over and over about a million times before she finally took a deep breath and got off her bed. She wasn’t prepared for breaking up with Hank in the slightest. If anything, she felt like she needed fifty more years of pep talks and self-negotiation skills.

Unfortunately, she didn’t think Misty would understand and wait that long. And well, Misty was worth cutting ties with family members she’d known her whole life so it was now or never.

Standing up and smoothing the front of her blouse down; her way of faking self confidence, Cordelia took another deep breath and walked out of her bedroom door. Taking the stairs one by one, she slowly meandered her way into the kitchen where Hank sat eating his breakfast of steak and eggs. When she closed her eyes and pictured the near future, it was Misty sitting on her counter top, eating blueberries straight out of the bowl and peppering her with those early morning kisses that could make a mute angel sing. 

With that in mind, she sat tensely in the seat opposite of Hank, gently asking, “Can we have our talk now?”

“I guess, babe. Is it gonna take long? I work in thirty.” 

_In a perfect world, you’d make this easy for me and it’ll take less than five._

Straightening her shoulders and feigning the confidence that had fled sometime during the night, Cordelia began the second hardest conversation she’d ever have in her lifetime.

“Hank,” she started, ironically sounding self-assured, “I’m not going to drag this out. I don’t think we should be together anymore.”

Hank’s hand paused mid-air, fork hovering with his next bite of food.

Cordelia’s fingers tensed and clenched into fists, waiting for him to say something. Anything. When he neglected to respond, she repeated, “Hank, I-”

He began uncontrollably laughing. Cordelia retracted backwards, wanting to make sure that he was actually -

“Oh, shit, Dee. That’s a good one,” he managed to get out between the laughs. “You’re funny, babe. You almost got me there.”

Her mouth dropped open, frozen in a look that could either become a scream or animalistic screech that expressed all the built up anger inside her body that he had built layer by layer. Remembering to try and sound self-assured, she spit out, “I’m not joking. I have never been more serious about anything.”

He carefully placed his fork down, laughing once more in her face. “That’s funny. I don’t think we should break up at all.” He angled his head to the side, fixing her with an amused grin that made shivers roll down her spine.

“Hank, I’m serious. I want you out.” She was tired of playing these games, trying to convince herself that maybe she shouldn’t leave him, that maybe she was making a _mistake_. These thoughts plagued and nagged at her, though she was well aware they were nothing more than intrusive thoughts that derived from her self consciousness. Then she thought about Misty; how soft spoken she was, how badly she wanted to treat Cordelia so well. Things got a little easier.

“I’ve packed your side of the closet, and I can send you anything else whenever you want.” She could see the shock flash across his face when he realized that she was truly not kidding.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” His nostrils flared in anger, causing her to pull back even further. “After all this time? You just woke up this morning and decided to kick me out? Are you out of your fucking mind?”

“I’m quite level headed actually, I’ve been thinking about this for a while. What you have to offer me is not what I need.” _Not that you have much to offer at all._

He barked out a sharp laugh, making Cordelia cringe. “Who else is going to put up with your shit? No,” he shook his head, “You’re not doing to this to me.”

“I am, Hank. You can accept it now or later for all I care but I want you out of my house.” She blinked slowly; precisely, letting it be known through her facial expressions that she had no room to budge on her decision. Her mind was made up and her heart had been emptied of the last nine years, ready to be refilled by a certain blonde.

“If you think that I’m just going to let you do this us,” he sneered, “You’ve got something coming. I mean that. You’re fucking delusional, thinking you can just throw all of this away." 

Suddenly feeling quite relentless and deciding she had nothing to hold back, Cordelia shot back, “Throw what away? Your half assed compliments and lack of interest in anything that doesn’t involve you?”

Raising an eyebrow, Hank chuckled incredulously. “Dee, I don’t know what or _who_ has gotten into you, but you’ll regret this. You really will. You think anyone else will want to be with you? With all your mommy issues and the parade of girls that hang around here like leeches?”

“Do _not_ bring my girls into this,” Cordelia seethed. “And you should be worrying about yourself, I feel bad for any girl you try to date after me. Maybe you should come with a warning label, hm?”

In one swift move that startled her and Dobby who had crept in to eat his breakfast, Hank swiped his plate to the floor where it smashed into a million shards. Whirling around to make sure Dobby hadn’t gotten hit in the aftermath, she was happy to see him merely scamper out towards the living room. Turning back around, she was met with Hank’s chest heaving with every haggard breath he took in.

Deciding it was probably worth it to stay silent for the time being, Cordelia let Hank process his emotions as best he could. What she didn’t expect was his voice coming out flat and cold.

“This will be the biggest regret of your life, Cordelia. You’ve just made the worst mistake possible.” He shook his head forlornly. “I feel sorry for you, tossing me out like yesterday’s trash.” He clicked his tongue once, trying to seem calm like he wasn’t flushed red and shuddering.

Cordelia felt a stab of pain in her rib cage right about where her heart would be. Opening her mouth and then closing it, she couldn’t decide where to go from this. Slowly, with as much energy as she could muster, she ignored his tactics to try and hurt her. Instead, she said, “I called your mom earlier, and she said you can stay with her or your brother. She told me she’s sorry it ended up like this, and that you’re welcome there as long as you need to get back on your feet.”

“My mother doesn’t even like you,” Hank was trying his hardest to dissuade her, showing that her attempts to end this relationship didn’t bother him in the slightest. “She told me I deserve someone better than you.”

“Hank,” she sighed, “I don’t believe that. I know this has come as a shock, but trying to hurt me does nothing to change my mind. Please, don’t make this harder for yourself.”

Contemplating a moment, he then gazed directly into her eyes. “Have you been fucking someone else? I bet that’s it. It’s funny you think leaving me for him will do you any good. Does he know how batshit insane you are? I bet you had Coco cover for you all those nights you two claimed to be together.”

Pausing a moment while the shock and anger crept through her body, Cordelia took a second to even her breathing and contemplate all the ways she could get away with murdering Hank and hiding his body.

Squeezing her eyes shut and digging her nails into her palms to keep herself from screaming, she thought about what would happen after this. The dream of waking up next to Misty and kissing her every night before bed was keeping her from getting up and screaming in Hank’s face that _yes_ there was someone else. And she was a better person than he could ever _dream_ of being. He didn’t deserve to know about her grace and respectfulness, not now and not ever.

“No,” she lied through her teeth, “There is no one else. And even if there _was_ ,” she said this with venom dripping her tone, “They would treat me better than you ever have or ever will.”

“Bullshit.”

In an attempt to make Hank understand that she was done with this; both the conversation and the relationship, she stood up and proceeded to leave the kitchen. To get the last word, she called back, “And clean up your fucking mess before I make you clean it.”

Another plate smash. Sighing, she let him get out his anger; knowing her peace of mind was worth more than some Williams & Sonoma plates.

Scooping up Dobby on her way up the stairs, Cordelia waited in her bedroom with the door shut, knowing Hank would have to leave eventually for work.

After a few more minutes of listening to his general displeasure over the situation, Cordelia heard him grab the suitcase she’d placed in the foyer and slam the door shut. The reverberations made her cringe, but then slowly the weight lifted off her shoulders little by little like pieces of ash flying haphazardly from flames.

After she knew his car had pulled out of the driveway and peeled off down the street, Cordelia made herself get out of bed and check the damage Hank had made in the kitchen. In his rage, he had broken two plates and left his dirty dishes in the sink. Resigning to the fact that she’d have to be the one to clean up his mess, she was glad to know it’d be for the last time.

When she went to reach for the broom inside the closet, she noticed Hank had left her a note on the edge of the counter. Unfolding it, Cordelia read it with tension brimming inside her, knowing he’d have some choice words for her after he’d stormed out.

_Send my shit to my mom’s. You’ll regret this, just know that. You’re making a mistake. If you come to your senses, call me and apologize and I’ll consider taking you back._

Cordelia couldn’t help it. Dropping the broom, she crumpled to the floor where she sobbed and ached to be in Misty’s arms, getting coddled and told it would be okay. Struggling to take in deep breaths, she curled into a rocking position, pulling her knees to her chest and letting herself cry out every terrible emotion. In the back of her mind she knew she’d made the right decision. It had taken her a while to get to this point, but the circumstances surrounding had made her second guess herself. Leaving her longtime boyfriend for a woman she’d met and had a tumultuous three day love affair with? Cordelia wasn’t sure she could ever top these dramatics in the future.

Lying there, she silently repeated over and over that being with Misty would be the wisest choice she’d make in the rest of her lifetime. She did this so many times that when she stood up an hour later to stretch her legs, the voice inside her head was sounding like a broken record.

Pushing herself up, she soldiered on to sweep the broken plates off the floor and wash the dishes Hank had left behind. Meticulously she went through the motions of cleaning up after him, drying each dish with care to prolong the distraction. By the time she was done, the tears had reappeared and clouded her vision. Pulling back from the sink and drying rack, she pulled her phone from her back pocket and dialed Coco’s number.

“Hi babygirl, did you do it?”

“Yes,” Cordelia sobbed, “I did it.”

Even through the snotty tears, she managed to ask, “Can you come over? I can’t be alone.”

“You’re lucky I’m off work this week,” Coco huffed, “I’ll be there in twenty. Don’t do anything rash like burn his shit in the backyard. I wanna be there for that.”

Laughing through the tears, Cordelia promised, “I won’t. Please, just come.”

Forever behind schedule, Coco pulled up an hour later and walked through the front door without pause. Marching up the stairs and straight to Cordelia’s room she paused to say, “The aura of this house is already so much lighter. I feel like a demon was exorcised or something.” Trudging inside, she tossed a grocery bag containing donuts and chocolate bars on the end of Cordelia’s bed.

Through the broken sobs and tears, bubbling laughter erupted from Cordelia’s mouth. “I hate you,” and then, “You’re right.”

Clicking her tongue in agreement, Coco replied, “I know I am. Look, I even brought you wine and stopped at Starbucks for your nasty leaf water. Can’t you drink coffee like the rest of us?”

“I like to be different, I guess.” Cordelia patted the empty space next to her, an undeniable request for Coco to crawl in and give her some peace of mind. Graciously accepting the tea, she sighed out a feeble, “It was really bad, Co.”

“He didn’t take it well? I, for one, am absolutely shocked.”

Rolling her eyes and shoving Coco playfully, Cordelia responded, “I’m serious. It was terrible.”

“God, I’m kidding. I have to get my jokes out, lighten the mood a little. What did he say?”

“That I’ll regret this, I’m making the biggest mistake of my life. And that his mother hates me,” Cordelia stared forlornly at the floorboards, equal parts upset and enthralled it was over. The 200 pound weight off her shoulders that had come in the form of Hank was no longer holding out of reach from delicious freedom. She couldn’t wait to see how far it stretched.

“Sharon? That woman loves you. What a piece of shit,” Coco seethed. “This was the best decision you’ve ever made in your life. Your worst mistake was definitely getting bangs back in college.”

Biting back a laugh, Cordelia’s heart warmed at her greatest support system being there to, well, support. Thankful for the distraction Coco brought, she sipped on her tea and continued, “Oh yeah, and he thinks I’ve been fucking someone else.”

Coco snorted, a low sound that was received with an annoyed glare from Cordelia. Tossing a hand in the air, she was quick to defend herself. “I’m just saying. It’s not like you actually fucked her. _Yet_ ,” she emphasized.

A crimson blush rose violently on Cordelia’s chest and cheeks, flushing her with absolute shame that Coco caught onto immediately. “Uh, hello? What’s with that? Oh my _God,_ did you fuck her? I don’t condone cheating but Hank had it coming.”

“ _No_ ,” Cordelia was quick to reply, “I have morals. Unless,” she paused, unsure how detailed she’d like to get with this. “Does phone sex count?”

Coco looked simultaneously proud and shocked. In an unusual venture, she was silent for a long pause to contemplate what exactly had gotten into her usual straight laced best friend. “My God,” she finally breathed out, “Who are you? I’m fucking obsessed with this new thing you’ve got going on. It’s very sexy of you.”

“Thanks, I think.”

“Do you feel better though?”

Contemplating, Cordelia let herself come to the realization that it was actually over. She didn’t have to play maid or be the perfect housewife anymore, letting Hank use her for his own personal gain. It was maddening; this neat, bow wrapped gift she’d granted herself, but there were still parts of her that felt as though she’d done something so incredibly stupid and selfish. Maybe it was because of Hank’s words, maybe it was because she’d never done something this reckless this before. All she knew was that she felt relieved, excited, and truthfully, a little lonely.

“I don’t know,” she replied, “I’m trying to wrap my mind around it. It feels weird, like I’ll wake up tomorrow and he’ll be back here, asking me to make breakfast.” Tossing her head to the side, she smiled softly, “But he won’t be.”

“Exactly. He won’t be. Hey,” Coco lifted her chin, “I’m proud of you, yeah? I mean it.”

The tears watered again, and Cordelia ducked her head into the crook of Coco’s neck; inhaling a sharp breath and sobbing out. “What if I made a mistake? What if I’m crazy and this is just some elaborate self sabotage scheme I didn’t see coming?” It hurt to ask; knowing without doubt that this twisted love affair with Misty was about to transform into a life changing love story like a caterpillar making the transformation into a beautiful butterfly. But it had to be spoken, so that Cordelia could release it out in the open and watch it dissipate like smoke.

“Don’t be fucking stupid.”

She would have liked to able to get through this without the presence of more tears, but that was blown to shit when Coco grasped at her tighter and rocked the two of them. Cordelia didn’t know much about what the future held; but she knew this: Misty would adore and love her, two things Cordelia had denied herself for so long. Coco rocked her for a while, not saying anything and letting her heave every emotion out.

“I’m sorry I’ve cried so much lately,” she finally sniffled.

“Do I look like I care? Remember when I broke up with Tim and cried for like a week straight?”

“Yeah,” Cordelia laughed, “And you didn’t even like him that much. You made me watch every Real Housewife series with you. I thought I was going to scream.”

“It’s not my fault you don’t have taste. He had a small dick anyway. Whatever, my point is that you’re making a huge life change and tears are natural. It’s all part of the process, babe.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

“Again, I always am. No one ever listens to me,” she scoffed.

Cordelia smacked her upside the head and laid her own down on the pillow. “I’m exhausted. Will you put on Great British Bake Off?”

Coco reached over for the remote and fulfilled her request. As she went to get off the bed, Cordelia clutched at her and pleaded, “Wait, don’t leave me.”

“Jesus, can I pee?” As Cordelia nodded and let go; eyes already focused back at the tv, Coco swiftly snatched her phone off the dresser. Out in the hallway, she punched in Cordelia’s password, which she knew by heart. In recent calls, she pressed Misty’s name and took a deep breath.

Misty picked up immediately. “Hi sexy, I was just thinking about you.”

Coco barely disguised her laughter, responding, “Who, me?”

“Oh shit, sorry Coco. Where’s Cordelia?” Dropping her tone, she worried, “Is she okay?”

“Well, she broke up with the piece of shit that was weighing her down this morning, and she’s not having the _greatest_ time,” Coco answered. “Do you think you can come over and relieve me of my duties here? I love her and all, but I’m not exactly who she needs right now.”

Buzzing at Coco’s confession that Cordelia wanted _her_ , Misty nodded enthusiastically to herself. “Yeah,” she accepted the plea, “ _God_ , yeah. I can be there in twenty.” Brimming with excitement, she hung up the phone before remembering to say goodbye to Coco.

“That’s my good deed my for the day,” Coco whispered to herself. She made her way back to Cordelia’s bedroom, where she was dozing comfortably like surrendering to sleep had given her the ability to have a much needed moments peace.

Twenty minutes on the dot later, Coco heard a faint knock coming from downstairs. Carefully as not to disturb Cordelia, she padded down the stairs and greeted Misty. “Hi, come in, please. She’s sleeping upstairs.”

Misty looked around nervously, crossing her arms around herself. “He’s really gone? That quickly? I thought it would take longer.”

Coco grabbed her bag from the hall table and slipped her shoes on. “She moves fast when there’s something she wants.” At Misty’s wide smile, she pointed up the stairs. “First door on the left.” Waving goodbye, she slipped out the door and smiled to herself, knowing she was finally leaving Cordelia in good hands.

Misty tentatively crept up the stairs, nervous at being in this big house alone with Cordelia. At the same time, excitement and enthrallment shivered up her spine, giving her cause to close the gap between the two of them even quicker. Nervously, she debated whether to knock on the door or open it carelessly, unsure of how to bridge this newfound connection. Choosing a mixture of the two, she slightly opened the door and knocked, whispering, “Cordelia?”

“Coco?” Cordelia was on her side with her back to the door, blinking against the sunset lazily filtering its way through her blinds.

“No,” Misty giggled, “Not Coco.”

“Misty?” Cordelia whirled around incredulously. “Hi, I - when did you get here?” Quickly, she sat up and brushed her used tissues off her lap and into the wastebasket next to her bed. “Hi,” she repeated, smiling dreamily.

Her obvious nervous tension was delightfully charming to Misty, who repeated back a similar greeting. “Coco called me. I hope it’s okay, that I’m, you know-“

“Yes,” Cordelia sighed out, “It’s more than okay. Come here.” Her voice was weighted with sleep; light and dreamy, the only thing Misty wanted to hear for the next thousand lifetimes.

Strolling over to her side of the bed, Misty leaned down into Cordelia’s waiting arms and kissed her. She did this with as much intensity and enthusiasm as she could muster, groaning into it as she straddled Cordelia’s legs. Pulling back, she cradled Cordelia’s tear stained cheeks more gently than the latter had ever experienced, softly saying, “hi” again, like she would never tire of greeting her.

Like a lovesick fool, when Misty placed a kiss on the tip of her nose, Cordelia felt every wall she’d put up and every negative thought break down and crumble to dust. Over and over she kissed Misty with passion that had been stagnant for over nine years, knowing now that she’d wasted nine years too long.

For the first time in her life, Cordelia knew what freedom felt like. It was this: her hands wrapped up in curled blonde hair, her hips rutting up to meet Misty’s, the small gasps of lust that slipped from between both their lips. It was small devotions of love that had sprung from dirt like the first sign of life after a long winter. The chains of whatever had held her down in the past were exactly that now; the past. They were put behind her as she promised new beginnings to Misty with every breathless kiss. Unspoken on lips, there was enough energy surrounding them that they knew it was useless to fight any reservations about this blossoming _thing_ between them.

“ _Cordelia_ ,” Misty voice caught and it sounded like a chorus of angels, “I’ve been thinking about doing this for what feels like my entire life.”

“I know,” Cordelia whispered before pressing a blazing kiss on Misty’s sharp jawline. She repeated, “I know. It’s like that for me, too.” If it was anything like how she felt, Cordelia knew Misty was dizzy, burning with heightened emotion and teetering on the edge of losing all self control. And it felt _good_.

“Lie down,” Cordelia commanded, voice fervent and rough around the edges, “I wanna kiss you properly.” This position was all well and good, but she couldn’t risk letting Misty get a cramp in her side or her foot falling asleep. She needed this to be perfect, despite it already being damn near close.

“What do you mean by properly,” Misty giggled, titillated, “If I lie down you know what comes next.” She winked mischievously, then laughed again at Cordelia’s ragged sigh that followed.

Gently forcing Misty down atop her sheets, Cordelia paused to let herself take in the image of her small body spread out, loose limbed and hair fanned out going every which way. Leaning down, she pressed a series of open mouthed kisses down the length of Misty’s neck who bared it without shame. Remembering that she meant to reply, Cordelia murmured into the shell of her ear, “And what exactly comes next?”

Glancing up at Cordelia with hooded eyes, she replied, “We cuddle and watch this episode of Great British Bake Off, because I love this show and Zoe won’t watch it with me.” She attempted to squirm out of Cordelia’s embrace when the woman above tickled her waist for the teasing. Finally relenting, Misty gasped out, “Okay, _okay_ , maybe we can do some other stuff if you can keep your hands to yourself for the next twenty minutes.”

Cordelia smiled, and it reached ear to ear. She was drunk with emotion that made her lightheaded and filled with childlike wonder. It was a foreign concept to her, this absolute sheer happiness that had blanketed her soul and marked a tiny imprint on her heart. When Misty caught her smiling so widely, her face dropped as she wondered, “What, is there something on my face?” The hand that reached up to wipe at her face was caught by Cordelia, who laced their fingers together and replied back, “No, it’s perfect. Like you. I just never thought we’d get this far.”

Misty rolled so that Cordelia was lying next to her, both of them on their sides facing each other. She grasped at Cordelia’s hand once again, holding it like it was the only thing tethering her to this earth. “I didn’t expect this either,” she whispered. “You came into my life swirlin’ like a tornado knockin’ at my doorstep.”

At the interesting choice of words, Cordelia ducked her head as a delicate blush rose once again to her cheeks. Misty cupped one side and kissed the other; to which Cordelia took it a step further and clasped her chin to angle it down for a proper kiss. Things seemed to get heated very quickly as Misty swung one leg over Cordelia’s waist and pressed herself fully against the warm body beside her. Disconnecting their lips for a quick second, Cordelia cheekily asked, “What happened to finishing the show?”

Misty ground herself down deliberately on one of Cordelia’s thighs, husking out, “I’ve already seen this one. ‘Sides, I can think of something more interesting I wanna do.” She slipped her tongue into Cordelia’s mouth, moaning sweetly when she responded with mutual desire. Cordelia’s hand slipped underneath her dress and flattened against the plane of her stomach, holding itself there in an unvoiced question that needed a confirmation before it went a step further.

“Cordelia,” she broke away from wet lips, barely managing to get the full moniker out, “Can you touch me like you mean it?”

Without pause Cordelia’s hand traveled up Misty’s waist and over the curve of her rib cage, where it delicately cupped the swell of her breast and dared to flick a thumb over a pert nipple. Misty bucked into the touch, arching off the bed and gasping out, “ _Fuck_ , baby. That feels real good.”

Cordelia smirked, flicking her thumb again and earning herself another gasping moan like she wanted to collect them all and store them into her memory. “You keep doin’ that and I’m not ever gonna want to leave this bed,” Misty murmured. “Dunno if you’re prepared for that.”

An incredulous laugh. “I’m prepared for anything.”

“Anything, hm?”

“Anything,” Cordelia confirmed.

Misty took this to heart, slipping her own hand under Cordelia’s blouse and traveling up smooth skin, where it rested atop a clothed breast. When her palm scraped over a nipple, she inhaled sharply and nearly cried, “You weren’t lying about the lingerie.”

“ _Misty_ ,” she mockingly joked, “Can you touch me like you mean it?”

The younger blonde let the overwhelming desire take over all sense of rationality, yearning for the taste of Cordelia’s skin on her tongue like she needed oxygen to breath and water to drink. Half propping herself up on an elbow, Misty clumsily undid the buttons of Cordelia’s shirt; who waited while she got her bearings and finally popped them all open, deftly unhooking her bra along with it. At the exposure of the uncharted territory of Cordelia’s breathtakingly flushed chest, Misty dropped down and brushed her mouth across the blank canvas. She drug her tongue across every dip and swell, nipping and sucking lightly as she saw fit. After pressing a dozen tiny kisses over and over Cordelia’s heaving chest, Misty lifted her head to look at her.

Lips plump and pink, her eyes glazed over as she purred, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful in my life. I feel like the luckiest son of a’ bitch in this whole goddamn state. Maybe even the whole world, honest to God.”

Cordelia felt another stab of pain in her chest, this time for reasons she knew now were meant to be positive. Something snapped inside her, and when Misty went to dip her head back down, she cradled her chin and forced them to make eye contact once more. “Can you,” she mumbled, “Can we just- can I hold you?” She sighed out, seemingly embarrassed for stopping Misty’s hungry journey. Complying with the soft plea, Misty allowed herself to be tugged up and into Cordelia’s waiting embrace once more.

Curling into the warm chest, Misty dropped her head against the soft curve underneath her chin. Cordelia’s arms wrapped delicately around Misty’s shoulders, who sighed out like every moment leading up to this had been pure torture. Her fingers began delicately tracing Cordelia’s collarbone, like she couldn’t believe she was here and this was reality. As her fingertips danced along the sharp edges, Cordelia’s chest constricted with the immensity of care Misty had immediately taken on with her. She was used to rough, frenzied interactions with Hank; who cared about himself and his pleasure more than he’d cared about the warm body in bed next to him. Misty was the complete opposite, treating this interaction as though she’d been entrusted to keep Cordelia in one piece; touching and cradling her with fragility and the utmost care. The dichotomy took Cordelia’s breath away, and she told Misty this through actions and not words.

Capturing the hand that had been tracing her chest, Cordelia brought it to her lips to press a kiss on each fingertip, gleaming when it made Misty duck her head under the softness of the gesture. “Cordelia, I, I- don’t know how to say this,” she started, “I feel like my head’s swimmin’ underwater but I’m perfectly capable of breathing. Like you’re my life preserver or some shit. My heart’s been flutterin’ like crazy, I think it’s finally satisfied or somethin’.”

Cordelia had been preparing herself for the slew of backhanded compliments and unwarranted jibes at her appearance, immediately scolding herself for ever thinking Misty was capable of such atrocities. Then Misty gripped Cordelia’s hand and placed it above her heart; on top of the soft skin encasing her most prized possession, letting her feel the pounding beat like her own personal drumline.

Cordelia went numb to the touch. “Your mind is so fucking beautiful,” she exhaled, “It’s so nice to hear that, I’m not used to it.”

Misty frowned at this, swiping her thumb over Cordelia’s chin. “That’s not fair to you. I’ll never for the life of me understand why he didn’t treat you like a queen. How could he not? I mean, look at you.”

It was like fireworks exploded deep inside Cordelia’s chest cavity. Her body burned with a delicious fire, a sensation worth every painstakingly long day of the last nine years. She thought she would do it all over again if it meant she could commemorate this moment and store every millisecond of it in her hippocampus. Shaking her head as if unable to believe this was real and this was her life now, Cordelia merely smiled and replied, “I don’t need him to do it anymore, I have you.”

“You do,” Misty agreed effortlessly. “For however long you want me for.”

“It might just be forever,” Cordelia confessed, feeling drunk on emotion and too weightless to even consider taming herself.

“Let me check my schedule, I might have something that day -” Misty laughed heartily as Cordelia cut off her shameless teasing with an open mouthed kiss and playful smack on her thigh.

Sighing in content, Cordelia dropped back down into Misty’s ever careful arms and let herself be coddled. As if the last twelve hours hadn’t existed, she was excited for this to become her new norm. It didn’t matter that things moved quickly, all that mattered was that her heart had a reason to keep on beating.

“Cordelia?”

“Hm?”

“Why do you live in this big ass mansion if it’s only you and Dobby?”

“ _Oh_ ,” she laughed, suddenly remembering they knew next to nothing about each other. It was new and exciting and exhilarating now that they had an endless amount of time to learn about each other. She wanted to know everything about Misty, from her favorite color to what makes her tick, her favorite food to what kind of shampoo she uses. Cordelia wanted to know everything from A-to-Z and whatever else could fall under that category. They’d already given each other the quiet promise of forever, and now she just hoped it was enough time.

She gently pressed her lips against Misty’s again, unable to believe that she could do this without qualm, but it's not like Misty was complaining in the _slightest_. “I run a school for girls with gifted talents. They’re on spring break but there’s rooms here if they need to get away from home, you know? God knows I needed to get away from my mother sometimes.”

“Yeah,” Misty nodded, “I feel that. My momma basically left me to fend for myself by the time I got outta high school. But it looks like we’ve been doin’ pretty well for ourselves since then.”

“I think so too,” Cordelia agreed.

When she’d imagined this type of intimacy, it hadn’t looked like this; Misty’s head tucked perfectly in the space between her neck and shoulder, the ends of her hair tickling her ribcage, soft breaths fanning out across her neck. It hadn’t been this heart achingly soft and wonderful and -

It made Cordelia want to explode with joy.

“Tell me about yourself,” Cordelia urged, needy for any tidbits Misty could give her. She selfishly wanted Misty to divulge everything that had ever hurt her, wanting to fight them head on and destroy their ability to make Misty feel anything less than whole.

“Well I grew up on the outskirts of the swamp in a lil religious community, and when my momma found out that I wasn’t born to marry the preacher’s son, _God forbid_ , she pretty much kicked me out. I had finished high school n’ took some college courses, but I needed a job so I worked in a vet’s office. And by then I realized how much I loved animals so I took a couple a’ odd jobs here and there until I landed where I am now. It’s my favorite one so far, but I might be biased because it’s where I met this beautiful woman,” she giggled, “You should see her. I might just have to make her mine.”

“I’ll have to meet her,” Cordelia grinned wickedly, her fingers tangling themselves once more into Misty’s hair. “She sounds great.”

“She is,” Misty hummed, leaning up for a kiss.

If only the world could stop moving for a period of time so Cordelia could have this moment with Misty and not care what was happening outside this room. Deciding she’d had enough of _just_ holding Misty, Cordelia propped herself up and reached for the hem of her dress, shyly lifting it with bated breath. Misty caught on immediately, arching her back in an attempt to help Cordelia pull it up and off all the way.

Then she was bare from the waist up; Cordelia’s vision going a little blurry at the sight. If the world outside this room burnt to ash, she wouldn’t have noticed; unable to focus on anything but the freckles dotting cream colored skin, the pebbled tips of her nipples that stood at attention, the way Misty’s eyes darkened with arousal despite barely even being touched. “You’re perfect,” Cordelia’s nostrils flared as she inhaled sharply, and then, “I don’t want to mess this up.”

Her soft giggle and wide smile at the confession reminded Cordelia of the age old love story between the sun and the earth; how the earth loves the sun so much it rotates around it on a never ending journey. If Cordelia was the earth, Misty was most definitely her sun. It made sense to her now, loving something so deeply that you spend your days in its blinding light, keeping you warm for the rest of eternity. Imagining a future with Misty didn’t feel as cumbersome as it did with Hank, it felt exhilarating and fun like Cordelia had stumbled upon the greatest treasure without even searching for it. She had been meant to feel like this all along, but she was glad she didn’t. Because it brought her right here.

Swiftly, Misty flipped them so that she was hovering over Cordelia and whispering, “You could never mess this up.” She sat up on her hind legs, fingers tracing Cordelia’s stomach down to where her pants were buttoned. Glancing up, a questioning look in her eyes, the woman underneath nodded vehemently.

“Take them off. _Please_.” She sounded so breathy and needy that Misty didn’t want to make her ask again, pulling the pants down and off to the side of the bed. Pausing with her hands on Cordelia’s thighs, she sucked in a breath and let out a low whistle.

“I ain’t ever been this nervous before, Delia. What is it about you?” she wondered. She tentatively pressed down on the scrap of fabric with two fingers, enjoying the wetness she felt pooled there.

Cordelia shrugged her shoulders, shifting slightly to grant her curious fingers more access. “I don’t know,” she replied, “But I know exactly how you feel."

  
Trembling and shaking like a leaf, Misty dug her thumbs into the waistband of Cordelia’s underwear. In a tone barely above a whisper, she glanced up and asked, “May I?”

A sharp nod.

After a quick removal, Cordelia was as bare as the day she was born, looking like an incredibly sinful dream to Misty. The woman above couldn’t keep her eyes off Cordelia, tracing the entire length of her body like she was committing every line and curve to memory. Cordelia sighed and arched back, spreading her legs so Misty could get a good look at how needy she was.

“ _Jesus_ ,” Misty puffed out her cheeks, “What did I do to deserve this?”

Cordelia shifted once more, reminding Misty that she didn’t have _all day_ , so if she could just get a _move on_ it’d be much appreciated. “Misty.”

“Yeah,” Misty grinned, “Yeah, sorry. Just trying to figure out if I’m dreamin’ or not.”

Cordelia bent herself up to take one of Misty’s cheeks in her palm and crush their soft lips together. “If it was a dream would I have done that?”

“Only in my most amazin’ ones,” Misty replied, then pensively, “Lie back.”

Complying immediately, Cordelia reclined to let Misty live out her wildest dreams. When she bent down to connect her mouth on the inside of Cordelia’s thigh, the woman above sighed out and spread her legs even further apart like an offering. Pressing chaste kisses towards the center, Misty made her way right between Cordelia’s thighs and inhaled once before swiping her warm, wet tongue up the length.

She had meant to tease, drag this out all night and through the next day if possible, but there was no need. Misty wanted Cordelia, and she wanted her _now_. She could drag this out later, they had a lifetime together after all.

Cordelia just about skyrocketed off the bed, not realizing how quickly the rush of arousal would decimate her. At first contact, she went into overdrive.

“Oh my God, _Misty_ ,” she breathed her name out like a prayer. Out of all the prayers Misty had known and recited, this too was considered a form of worship. The only form she wanted to spend her Sundays worshiping. Along with every other day, if Cordelia was so inclined to let her.

With tears stinging her eyes, Cordelia pawed at Misty’s shoulders when she went to dip her tongue back down. “Can you- I want you up here,” she pleaded, “With me.” She needed to hold Misty to make it clear to herself that this wasn’t some elaborate fantasy she’d conjured up in her mind.

Dramatically groaning as if burdened by not being between Cordelia’s legs, Misty got one more lick up the slick, smooth skin to savor the taste as long as possible. Obeying the request, she then sat up next to Cordelia and brushed her wet lips over her collarbone, licking it up seductively and sighing in content. “I was right,” Misty drawled, “You do taste good.”

Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut as Misty traipsed her fingers down her stomach and back between legs. Sitting up on her side, she smiled widely at Cordelia’s face that was adorably screwed up in what looked like agonizingly sweet pain.

“Cordelia,” she singsonged, “Look at me.”

When she glanced over at Misty with pleading eyes, the former swiped two fingers through the wetness and inside slick walls with one quick movement. Cordelia’s head rolled back on the pillow, the intense pressure immediately too much from where it coiled tightly in her gut beautifully. When Misty began thrusting softly; dancing around the most pleasurable spot, Cordelia choked back gasps and moans, her voice stuck somewhere in her throat and unable to come out.

“Oh, baby,” Misty sounded dazzled, “You feel so good. You’re so wet for me.”

“ _Mhm_ ,” Cordelia nodded imperceptibly, too busy trying not to let this erotic moment in time end so soon. Trying to delay the inevitable demise of her pleasure was useless; especially with the way Misty whispered sweet nothings in her ear and deviously pushed a third finger inside on a whim.

With Misty’s breath fanning across her face and a talented thumb rubbing across her clit, Cordelia faltered and knew it was stupid to delay this any longer. Misty dipped her head to capture a nipple between teeth, swirling it with her tongue and releasing it with a soft _pop_. Flicking it intermittently, she was enjoying every breathy moan dropping from Cordelia’s lips.

Cordelia managed to choke out, “ _Misty_ , I, I- I’m right there.” Her lower half was rhythmically thrusting off the bed to meet the frenzied movements and Cordelia was right on the cusp _when_ -

From downstairs, the front door slammed open.

Cordelia’s eyes that had been squeezed shut flew open at the loud bang. Her blissful orgasm dissipated immediately as Misty’s hand pulled away at the intrusive noise. Nervous, wild eyes flew up to meet Cordelia’s.

“Is that?”

She didn’t need to finish her question, Cordelia already knew. Nodding, Cordelia scrambled off the bed and tried desperately to retrieve her various items of clothing from where Misty had flung them. Exasperated that they were strewn every direction, she quickly flung her closet open and tugged on a robe.

From down in the living room she heard, “Cordelia, I know you’re here.” It was Hank and he sounded-

“Jesus, is he drunk?” Misty was still perched at the head of the bed, half naked and looking like a deer caught in headlights.

“ _Yes_ ,” Cordelia hissed. “Get dressed _,”_  she demanded. Finally snapping into reality, Misty swung her legs over the bed and started collecting her own items of clothing.

“Stay here,” she pleaded. “I’ll get rid of him. Don’t move, I mean it.”

Misty nodded, looking incredibly sick to her stomach as she pulled her dress back over her head.

Cordelia padded lightly over to her door and shut it quietly behind her, making her way to the top of the landing where she glanced down at Hank’s waiting figure.

“Ah, so the princess is home,” he slurred, “Coulda fooled me with how quiet you were being. Who else is up there? The guy you’ve been fucking?”

He gripped the stairwell in an attempt to climb them, but instead lost his balance and stumbled backwards. Cordelia swiftly ran down the steps and grasped his collar to tug him towards the door. “Hank, please, come on. I’ll call you an Uber but you can’t stay here.”

“No,” he swatted at her, “I told you that you’re making a mistake. Don’t be fucking stupid and tell your friend up there to fuck off and let a real man take care of you.” He punctuated his disgusting statement with a pointer finger jabbed sharply at her collarbone.

“I told you I’m not seeing anyone else. Now, please, Hank. Let me go back to bed,” she begged.

Hank got right in her face, breath ragged and reeking of cheap beer and whiskey, “I said, tell your friend up there to fuck off.”

Cordelia squared her shoulders and stood her ground, punctuating her response with as much poise as she could muster. “My _‘friend’_ up there is a woman who brought over some wine and chocolate to comfort me. Nothing more,” she lied. “And she’s not too keen on seeing you drunkenly make a fool of yourself. Nor am I. So if _you_ could kindly fuck off, it would be much appreciated.”

After being on the brink of elevated bliss three seconds prior to Hank storming in, she wasn’t much in the mood for pleasantries. He’d ruined her first night of freedom, so typically arrogant and selfish of him.

He sucked in a breath, unsteady on two feet. “Well,” he stumbled out, “I would like to see this friend of yours, so I know whether you’re a lying bitch or just a bitch.”

“No,” she was quick to deny his advances towards the stairs, “She fell asleep an hour ago, I haven’t woken her up to go home yet.”

“You’ve always been a shit liar, sweetheart. Don’t play games with me.” He used uncanny force to push her to the side and march up the stairs, this time without stumbling backward.

“Hey,” he raised his voice, pounding on the bedroom door, “This is my fucking house and I want you out of my bedroom.” Misty swung the door open, having made the bed and shoved all of Cordelia’s scattered clothes out of sight. In that moment, Cordelia could have kissed her in front of Hank for the poise she maintained as he snarled in her face.

“Hi, Hank is it? Yeah, sorry, fell asleep after one too many glasses of wine.”

Hank looked perplexed, peering between the two of them as if he could tell what they’d been doing all evening. “I know you. I met you yesterday. Why are you here?”

“Hank,” Cordelia nearly felt like screaming, “Can you leave us alone? I made it very clear I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.”

Ignoring her, Misty answered his question, “I’m here because my friend,” she pointed at Cordelia, “broke up with her boyfriend this morning and needed some support. Is that okay with you?”

Hank huffed out a glowering laugh. “If I had to guess, I’d think you were the one she’s been sleeping around with behind my back.” He paused to hiccup. “But my girlfriend doesn’t play for the other team.” In his drunken stupor, he failed to notice the apologetic glances Cordelia was throwing at Misty like confetti.

  
Cordelia seemed to grow a backbone. Shoving Hank roughly towards the stairs, she animalistically spit out, “I’m not your fucking girlfriend anymore, and if you’re not out of my house in three seconds I’m calling the cops for trespassing." 

He laughed in her face once more. “You’re bluffing. You’ve never had the balls to do anything like that. It’s why I liked you,” he sneered, “you were easy to boss around. A decent lay too,” he laughed to himself.

Cordelia slapped him for the second time since she’d known him, a knee jerk reaction for everything he’d taken from her. Her dignity, her pride, the last nine years of her life. None of them belonged to him anymore.

Clutching his jaw and rubbing at the swollen redness, Hank smirked and shook his head. “You’ll regret that too.” Finally coming to his senses, he retreated slowly back down the stairs where he looked up at Cordelia one final time and walked out of the door. Neglecting to shut it behind him, Cordelia watched as his staggering figure walked off down the sidewalk.

After a moment of deafening silence, Cordelia walked down to the front door to lock and deadbolt it. Pressing her back flush against it, she crumpled down to the floor and placed her head in her palms. Light footsteps padded quickly down the stairs to crouch in front of her; a healing presence only Misty could emit. Gentle hands pried Cordelia’s own off her face, revealing that she was blinking back tears and trying so desperately to stave them off.

“Hey, hey none a’ that,” Misty chastised. “Look at me.”

Cordelia looked up and sniffled.

  
“It’s _okay_." 

“It’s not,” Cordelia sobbed. “He ruined everything." 

Misty scrunched her forehead cutely. “No, he didn’t. I still had an amazin’ time with ya.” She lifted Cordelia’s chin and pressed a kiss against her lips. “I promise.”

“I don’t deserve you,” Cordelia banged her forehead against her knees. “I really don’t.”

“Shut up,” Misty huffed in reply, “Don’t be silly.” She pulled Cordelia into a standing position, tugging her towards the stairs. “Will you come lay with me?”

Cordelia wiped at her tears with the back of her hand and nodded silently. The two made their way back to her bedroom, where they lay together intertwined to bask in the hum of the settled house. Dobby curled in a tiny ball on the pillow above their heads, too excited at having double the warmth to snuggle up to.

After a while, Cordelia asked, “Will you stay here with me tonight?”

Misty hummed her confirmation, clutching at Cordelia tighter before reaching over her to switch the light off. Right before she closed heavy eyes, she tapped Cordelia’s bottom lip and kissed it so gently that it brought a small cry from between her lips. The pair fell asleep like that; limbs and souls intertwined, hoping for a dream filled sleep that couldn’t possibly be better than what reality had conjured up.

Cordelia had known love; felt love, but this was a different version. A better one. When she had been with Hank it felt like a haze had been clouding her better judgement, waiting for the day it cleared up and shifted into becoming that type of love people wrote novels about. But that day never came- and she knew now it was with good reason. Misty was mesmerizing to Cordelia, feeling simultaneously like home and freedom.

When they met, her world shifted slightly on its access. Changing everything for the better.

When she awoke to an empty space in her bed, panic flooded her system. Throat constricting, she immediately assumed the worst. _It was too much for her, she’ll never want to see me again. You fucking blew it, great job._  

Then she noticed the note on her nightstand. In Misty’s distinct scrawl, she’d written,

 

_don’t freak out that I’m gone, I just had to run home for some things before work. come see me today if you have time, cutie. miss you already_

_xo, misty_

_ps, you and dobby look real cute sleeping next to each other, can’t wait to see it again tomorrow morning._

 

Cordelia clutched the note to her chest, buzzing inside with what felt like a hundred thousand bees in her chest cavity. This had been the second greatest thing she could have woken up to, the first being the person who had written said note.

“ _can’t wait to see it again tomorrow morning_ ”

Can't wait, indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> do hank lives matter? lmk in the comments section. special thanks to leyla (kiwicordelia on twitter) who so graciously edited this shit show for me!!
> 
> all the comments on my last few chapters have been so heartwarming and I wish I could buy you all flowers or some shit ok !!!! love you all tysm.
> 
> one more chapter should do it and then we'll be back to our regularly gay scheduled program. i'm gonna miss this little fic it's been a delight honestly. you know where to find me @ moonmotels1 on twitter and moonmotels on tumblr. i take criticism, questions, credit card numbers etc etc.


	5. she looks so heavenly, she's nature's great creation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "my tea leaves predicted an April 2nd lover,  
> now I'm awfully very fond of you,  
> I was looking at you thinking "fuck, I've fallen in love"  
> I'm feeling less ugly now, like you beautify me  
> like being in your vision brings people benedictions."
> 
>  
> 
> for sammy, jossy, phoebe, and alyx.  
> xoxo

Sometimes the universe liked to play tricks on Cordelia.

Trick her into believing things are better than they seem. And see, the thing is, Cordelia had been playing these games for nine years too long. She was done playing. The universe brought her into Misty’s arms and _goddamn_ was she ready to accept it.

After Cordelia had found Misty’s sweet note, she lounged in bed for a few hours to enjoy the silence of the house. Even Dobby seemed to enjoy the emptiness, able to roam freely as he pleased without the toxic male presence staggering over him like a giant. He spent his newfound freedom bumping his wet nose against Cordelia’s bare legs, begging to be played with and paid attention to.

With Misty on her mind like _always_ , Cordelia snapped a few photos of him and sent them all to her, grinning when she replied, ‘ _you gotta stop sending me these, I’m about to leave my job and come over to cuddle_.’

Smiling cheekily, Cordelia answered, ‘ _Don’t do that baby, someone’s gotta support our cat treat addiction. It’s an expensive habit.'_

Abruptly, Misty switched subjects and texted back, _‘i keep thinking about those noises you made last night when i had my fingers inside you. will you come over later?’_

Cordelia clenched her thighs together. It never failed to surrender her to Misty’s mercy, this decimating rush of arousal. With a few simple words and the promise of later pleasure, Misty could get Cordelia to do anything. Murder, kidnapping, treason? All fell under the umbrella of things that would be considered mere casualties to her.

Laughing under her breath, Cordelia took a moment to compose herself before giving Misty the benefit of a reply. If she was going to do _this_ right now, Misty would have to wait for a proper response instead of being gifted an immediate answer.

‘ _Do you think you can be good for me and wait? I have something planned for us. Are you free after work?_ ’

Seconds later, ‘ _but i want to hear them right now_ ;) _i’m @ work dripping at the thought, honeybee. and for you, always.’_

 _Honeybee_. Cordelia’s chest clenched at the pet name, unable to fight off the swarm of affection that blossomed inside her like a beautiful flower growing from dirt and ash. It made her giddy; knowing Misty meant every word of affection that dripped off her tongue in obscenely sweet ways. It was worth every day of the last nine years.

_‘Can you behave yourself until later? I want to take you somewhere, but it’s a surprise. After that I’d like to see what kind of noises you’ll make when I spread your thighs and put my mouth in between them. Maybe I’d even let you ride my fingers afterwards. Is that okay?’_

Deviously, she opened her camera and aimed it at her chest. Pulling up her shirt, Cordelia managed to tug her lace bra down with one hand to expose a pert nipple to the cool air filtering inside her room. Snapping a photo of her half clothed chest, she sent it off to Misty. Dragging her bottom lip between teeth, she waited for a response with bated breath and quivering thighs.

Misty didn’t disappoint.

After a beat her reply came through, making Cordelia laugh out loud into the empty room.

‘ _i’m about to say fuck these cats and quit my job. fuck these customers too. you’re the hottest fucking thing i’ve ever seen, you know that? you’ll pay for this later though, don’t worry.’_

_‘There’s more where that came from if you’re good.’_

_‘didn’t you know i’m an absolute angel?’_

Cordelia could picture Misty’s cute pout in her mind, the prominent frown lines and pleading look in her eyes. It made Cordelia want to buy her every single rose garden and star in the sky if it meant Misty could have a fleeting moment of happiness.

_‘Don’t you have cats to take care of?:) I’ll be there soon, Coco said earlier that she wants to come too. Sorry in advance.’_

_‘i’d go through world wars just to see your face. she won’t bother me, i adore her.’_

_‘That’s because you barely know her.’_

After a few more _risqué_ photos and the promise that she would swing by Misty’s work, Cordelia quickly got herself ready for the surprise date. She’d planned this earlier in the morning when she had nothing but free time in bed with Dobby. Not having to cook breakfast for Hank freed up multitudes of time, apparently. After some google searches and phone calls, she decided that she’d found the perfect place to take Misty.

That idea sent shivers down her spine, enthralling in ways she didn’t expect. She’d been on many, many dates- obviously. But they had never been anything more than dinner at a semi-decent restaurant or some action movie Hank had dragged her to. This was different, more intimate than Cordelia had ever gotten with anyone. Because it meant something. It wasn’t expected of her, nor did it feel like a chore to check off her ‘to do’ list. It was a setting where she and Misty could tend to this flourishing romance between them. This would grant them the peace they deserved as they grew together into something people wrote love poems about.

Debating for twenty minutes- give or take a _few_ , Cordelia finally gave up and pulled on a pair of skin tight black jeans and a comfortable t-shirt. She then took a few moments to make sure her hair was perfectly parted and her lip stain was the perfect shade of pink. Hank had never noticed these things she took great care in, but she knew Misty would appreciate them. She always did. Still unable to believe this wasn’t some elaborate scheme from the universe that threatened to jump out and say _‘gotcha!’_ Cordelia continued getting herself ready all alone in her big house. Just the way she deserved.

Finally after checking and rechecking her outfit and makeup a dozen times, Cordelia kissed Dobby on the head and made her way to her car. Punching in Coco’s number, she threw her car in reverse and backed down the driveway.

“Hi, okay, I’m on my way I _swear_. Tom stayed over last night and I couldn’t exactly leave my bed this morn _-_ ”

“Can you spare me, please? I’m just leaving now too.”

“Oh thank God, I thought you were gonna yell at me for being late,” Coco laughed. Cordelia could hear the engine of her car gunning it dangerously fast down the street.

“I took forever to get ready. I’m nervous,” Cordelia admitted.

“Didn’t y’all already fuck? What’s there to be nervous about? It’s a date. You’re not asking her to marry you, babe.”

“Oh my God,” Cordelia breathed, “I forgot to tell you what happened last night.”

Coco sighed. “Jesus, it’s always something with you two. Can’t the universe just let y’all have your moment? What happened?”

“No, I need to see your face when I tell you.”

“I could hit you sometimes, I swear. I’ll be there in ten.”

“Okay, love you.”

“Love you.”

The rest of the drive was spent trying to ward off nervous ticks. The rhythmic tapping of Cordelia’s fingertips against her steering wheel, a constant stream of negative thoughts that told her Misty would hate the idea, the pounding beat of her heart that she swore was noticeable in her chest. It made Cordelia lightheaded and clammy, like she was a teenager going on a first date with the girl she liked. It was like she was nineteen again, never having been touched or treated this way before. And give or take a few years, it was almost the exact same scenario.

When she pulled up to the cafe, Coco’s car was already parked with its owner inside. Cordelia had tried her hardest to beat her there so Coco wouldn’t have the wonderful opportunity to grill Misty about anything and everything she felt needed answers. Quickly, she grabbed her bag and walked briskly inside the tiny shop that housed her heart’s content.

When the bell rang, several men drinking their coffee looked up to give their best charming smiles and curious glances at her as if they ever stood a chance against the blonde angel in Cordelia’s line of vision.

Too bad she only had eyes for Misty. Like a magnet connecting the two of them, Cordelia walked right over towards where Misty was crouched on the ground playing with the two cats batting her string toy around.

Misty looked up, a thousand sunlights gleaming in her eyes.

“Hi, beautiful.”

“Hi,” Cordelia sighed out, voice thick with emotion, “I missed you.” She didn’t care if she sounded needy or cheesy like a line in some shitty romance film. It was the truth, and she wasn’t in the mood for suppressing it anymore. The bag slung over her shoulder banged slightly on the side of her thigh with her movements; the only tangible thing reminding her that this wasn’t a dream and she was, in fact, in the presence of an angel.

“I missed you more.” Misty stood up and cradled Cordelia’s cheeks, bringing them in so she could place a kiss hello atop her lips. It never failed to pleasantly suck the air out of Cordelia’s lungs. Everything was so different with Misty. Every kiss, touch, and beat of her heart. It was like Cordelia had shed the skin of her previous life and she was starting over as if born again.

Somewhere off in the background, Cordelia swore she could hear the men groaning. It made her laugh and kiss Misty again, not caring if every man and woman in the state of Louisiana saw them.

“I can’t believe I get to do that whenever I want,” Misty whispered into Cordelia’s mouth, smiling like she’d been placed on this earth to do exactly this. As if she’d fulfilled her life’s purpose, her body was alight with wonder mixed with awe, a feeling she’d never get tired of. She pulled back, dropping her hand and taking Cordelia’s in it.

From behind her, Coco theatrically groaned and said, “Can y’all get a room or something? I’m sick.” Her teasing tone made Misty laugh and tug Cordelia to where she was sitting.

“Coco and I were just talking about how you had bangs in college,” Misty grinned. “I would love some photographic evidence.”

“Absolutely not, I burned all of the proof a long time ago,” Cordelia shot Coco a warning glance, who simply shrugged her shoulders and winked.

“If you give me some time I’m sure there’s photos somewhere in my archive,” Coco stifled her laughter. The gleam in her eyes told Cordelia that there was still proof and she would definitely be drudging them up from wherever her blackmail was stored.

Misty chuckled excitedly, kissing Cordelia’s cheek as an apology for the teasing. Standing up, she reached behind her on the counter to grab a mug full of steaming tea. “In the meantime,” she handed Cordelia the mug, “I got your drink all ready. I have to go fill out some adoption papers with this couple, but I’ll be back, yeah?”

Cordelia nodded, graciously accepting the drink like Misty had spent all morning doing the backbreaking work of hand picking the tea leaves and steeping them in water herself. “Thank you for having my tea ready.”

“For you, anything.” At Misty’s parting smile and sly glance, Cordelia could have been floating on a fucking cloud ten thousand feet above ground for all she knew.

A sharp poke in her ribs brought her back down to earth.

“Can you cut the lovey dovey shit and tell me what the fuck happened last night? I was this close to asking her, but I knew you’d scalp me if I did.”

“ _Yeah_ , you’re right about that,” Cordelia answered. Lowering her tone, she continued, “So we were, you _know_ -“ she made a vague gesture with her hands, hoping Coco connected the dots.

Her cheeks flushed at the memory and Coco smirked knowingly. Cracking her gum, she tilted her head and replied, “Uh huh.”

“And I was almost- you _know.”_

 _“_ I got the gist.”

“And then Hank came home. Drunk out of his mind.”

Coco’s mouth dropped open, her bewildered stare piercing Cordelia’s eyes. “You have got to be fucking kidding me. I get why you waited to tell me because I would have turned my car around and driven to his mom’s house to beat the shit out of him.”

She shook her head just barely. “I wish I was. I really do. He forced himself in my room too, so he could prove to himself I wasn’t sleeping with some other guy.”

Coco bit back a snarky laugh, her facial features quivering in amusement. “Well you’re not exactly sleeping with a man, now are you? God, I would kill to see the look on his face when he realizes he’s been left for a woman.”

Cordelia shot her another look that could freeze hell over. “Anyway, I fully expected her to just walk out of my life. But she didn’t. She still likes me.” She then couldn’t help the smile that reached from ear to ear, exhilarated beyond belief that she was here and things were looking up for once in her life.

As a pudgy cat nudged at the back of her calf, Cordelia reached down to pick her up and scratch at the fur covered stomach. “Look at you,” she cooed, “What a cutie.”

In this tiny cafe with dozens of cats running freely and the aroma of coffee nipping at her sense of smell, Cordelia felt at peace for once in her life. Her choices over the last few days had opened up a world of opportunity, and this is exactly where she belonged.

Coco sat back and sipped her iced coffee. “You’re glowing. I’d say it’s probably the sex but, you know,” she laughed at Cordelia’s apathetic groan. “She’s good for you, and I hope you know I am very happy for you.” She placed a comforting palm on Cordelia’s thigh and gave her a warm look.

Fighting back the urge to start crying in front of strangers, Cordelia placed her hand on top of Coco’s and squeezed it. “I know. I love you. I couldn’t have gotten here without you.”

Coco flipped her hair over her shoulder dramatically and sighed as if burdened by her wit and charm. “Just remember to mention me during your wedding vows. Slip me in between the promises to love each other forever and the ‘til death do us part' bit.”

“Yeah,” Cordelia replied sarcastically, “You bet.”

“Just a quick little nod to my undying support. And set me up with any hot family members she might have, I’m not asking for much. But tell me about this little date you’ve got planned for her.”

“Oh, Co, it’s the cutest thing. It’s this place out near the bayous where-“

Misty’s voice cut through the low hum of the shop. “Cordelia, can you come help me with something in the back?” Nodding imperceptibly, wanting to shout from the rooftops that she would lay down her _life_ for Misty, she put the cat down and went to stand.

“I’ll be right back, Co.”

“Nah, don’t worry. They close soon anyway, plus I gotta go meet Tom at his brewery. I’ll see you soon. Love ya,” she kissed Cordelia’s cheek goodbye. Pausing as she went to sneak out the door, she turned and winked, “Have fun back there.”

“What does _that_ mean,” Cordelia grumbled to herself as she meandered to the back of the shop.

Pushing the door open and slipping inside, she called out, “Misty?”

From off to her right side, Misty’s small frame shoved her back against the door, effectively shutting out the few cats milling about in the store.

“ _Oh_ ,” Cordelia huffed out a laugh. _So that’s what Coco meant by have fun._

 _“_ Did you need something?” She smiled wickedly as Misty arched up into Cordelia’s chest, brushing up against it in a sinfully teasing way.

“Was Coco the last one in the shop?” Misty pushed Cordelia over to the small counter where she wasted no time lifting her by the waist in a display of strength that made her head swim. Cordelia sat propped up on the edge as Misty roughly shoved her thighs apart to press herself in between them, chest flush against a lean torso.

After her head stopped spinning at the rush of being in Misty’s close proximity, Cordelia tilted it to feign thought. “Hm,” she let Misty begin nibbling at her neckline, “I suppose she was. What’s it to you?”

Misty pulled back, already looking flushed and ridiculously overwhelmed. Her eyes darkened as she replied, “You’re a goddamn tease, you know that? I have been here all _day_ thinking about taking you home and fucking your brains out.”

A thin lipped smile. “How interesting, I've been thinking of doing the same.”

“I feel bad for people who aren’t us,” Misty laughed, “They’re really missing out.”

Cordelia couldn’t find it in her to give any single fucks about anyone in the world right now that wasn’t Misty. She ran her hands down her arms and back up, taking Misty’s head between palms and bringing her in for a proper kiss. One wasn’t enough; it never was, so she clashed her lips into Misty’s over and over again like it held the ability to keep her in some warped time suspension. And in the back of her mind, Cordelia thought maybe it did. She was content to do this for days, months, probably even years.

“Mm,” Misty murmured into the kiss, “I missed this.”

Her hands tangled in Cordelia’s hair, running through the smooth locks and then down to her shoulders, where she clutched at them like letting go would bring forth a cataclysmic end. Cordelia let Misty get her bearings, grinning when she nearly toppled sideways as she ran a palm over Misty’s barely clothed breast.

“It’s been twelve hours,” Cordelia teased, fully aware Misty was just as needy as she was. Her breath fanned out over Misty’s cheek as the latter occupied herself with exploring her jawline.

Misty rolled her eyes, sarcasm dripping off her tongue in layers. “You act like you weren’t whimpering when I had my fingers inside you last night.” She clutched her jaw and licked a slick line along the length of it, smiling when Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut and moaned at the contact.

Cordelia balked, unable to form a coherent response in the midst of the memories clouding the better part of her rationale. Finally gaining some traction, she uttered, “I guess we’ll just have to see what other noises you can evoke from me.”

A mischievous smirk. “I guess so.”

Pulling back to grant herself the ability to take a deep breath, Cordelia paused for a moment, contemplating the immensity of what she was feeling. Lust and arousal overshadowed her decision making skills, but she managed to push forward and mutter out, “I’m sorry about last night. About Hank, I mean. I got my locks changed and blocked his number so he won’t be bothering us anymore.”

Misty pulled back from where she had been mapping Cordelia’s neck with her mouth and tongue, glancing up at her with hooded eyes. “It’s okay, Delia. I want to spend every moment with you, whether or not they’re interrupted.” She punctuated her statement with a decisive grip on Cordelia’s neck and a deep kiss. “I mean it. He didn’t ruin anything. We have a long time to get it right. And,” she added with a smirk, “If he comes back ‘round I can definitely take him. You see these biceps?”

Cordelia couldn’t help but laugh and tilt her head to kiss her again.

They had a long time indeed. They’d given each other this soul consuming thing between them, and Cordelia wanted it to extend long past eternity, blazing past eons of time and creating sparks of love in its wake.

“You’re not wrong about that.” She let Misty kiss her once more, still stuck on the subject of last night. “I want to make this right. Will you let me take you out?”

“You mean you don’t wanna spend all day in the back making out like teenagers?” Misty tossed her head back to bark out a cute laugh, and Cordelia swore she’d never seen anything more beautiful. Her bouncing blonde curls shone in the sunlight from the lone window, adding to the imagery and belief that Misty was indeed heaven sent. Cordelia had to swallow the lump in her throat at the sight, shaking her head at Misty’s quizzical look.

“I just can’t believe you’re mine,” Cordelia confessed, then quickly clamped a palm over her forehead. Chastising herself, “I mean, unless you don’t want to be. I’m not like, claiming you because it’s very sudden and I don’t want you to feel like we have to label-“

“Cordelia, shut up.”

She shut up.

Misty pulled her wrists down so she could get a good look at the face she wanted to wake up to every morning from now until the end of eternity. “I do believe we’ve bypassed any qualms by now, haven’t we?” Cordelia shook her head affirmatively. “So I guess you’re stuck with me, is that alright?”

At her soothing tone and equally as soothing words, Cordelia knocked their foreheads together. “It’s more than alright,” she sighed out. “I’m so happy.”

“ _I’m_ so happy.”

A toothy grin. “Good. Are you ready for our first date?”

“Been ready my whole life honeybee. Just gotta lock up.”

After stealing a dozen more blazing kisses and swatting away wandering hands, Cordelia hopped off the counter and grasped Misty’s hand to walk back out into the shop. As Misty busied herself by turning the machines off and cleaning a few miscellaneous dishes, Cordelia plopped herself on the floor to play with a few cats. Looking on lovingly like she was going to explode with joy, Misty had to continuously remind her to finish out the task at hand so she could get through the day and take Cordelia home _to_ -

Her chores were frantically finished. As she stepped out from behind the counter she murmured, “Okay cutie, I’m ready.”

Cordelia stood up and brushed her pants off, leaning over to grab her bag from the couch. Misty started heaving with laughter, shaking her head when Cordelia turned with a questioning look in her eyes.

“Black jeans were not your smartest idea, baby. You got cat hair everywhere.”

“Oh shit, I didn’t even think about that,” Cordelia twisted around herself, trying to brush the hair off the back of her thighs and ass.

Giggling once more, Misty reached into a cubby behind the counter to retrieve a lint roller. “Come ‘ere, I got it.”

Cordelia turned and faced away from her, glancing behind at Misty who crouched to run the roller up the back of her thighs. “Don’t get handsy with me now, you hear? We have places to be."

Misty nodded vigorously like she agreed, devilishly cupping the swell of Cordelia’s ass in one quick movement. She gasped theatrically, as if her hand had magically found itself there on a whim. “ _Sorry_ , my hand slipped.” At Cordelia’s adorable side eye, she smacked it once and continued to get the cat hair off.

“You’re insatiable,” Cordelia grumbled, her voice dripping with adoration and the slightest bit of sarcasm.

“It’s not my fault you make me this way.” After finishing the task at hand, Misty stood and tossed the lint roller behind the counter to worry about at a later time.

“Good as new. Let’s go,” she placed a kiss on the tip of Cordelia’s nose. “I’m excited about this. Do I get to know where we’re going?”

Cordelia pursed her lips for a moment, debating something. After a beat she answered, “No,” smirking at Misty’s accompanying eye roll.

“Fine,” she chirped, “Just hope it’s not out to the bayou to toss my body into the swamps because nobody knows I’m going with you.”

“Don’t give me any ideas,” Cordelia dodged Misty’s attempts to swat at her waist, managing to make it to the front door in one piece.

“Bye babies, don’t trash the place while I’m gone,” Misty called out to cats roaming around. “I’ll miss you all.”

Then they were stepping outside into the blinding sunlight, Cordelia opening the passenger side door for Misty to crawl into. After shutting it and making her way to the driver’s side, Cordelia climbed in and shifted the car into reverse.

“I don’t get any hints?”

“Hm,” Cordelia pondered, “it’s outdoors. But some parts are indoors too.”

“Never mind, you suck at giving hints.” When Cordelia went to smack her thigh at the teasing, Misty captured it mid-air and brought it to her mouth to kiss. “It’s okay, I still like you.” At the gentle touch, Cordelia tried to keep her cool, hiding the fact that every time Misty touched her it sent a new wave of thrill crashing through her like a storm brewing out at sea.

One handed for the rest of the drive, Cordelia directed them towards the outskirts of the swamp with ease. Misty half-joked, “You weren’t serious about leaving me out here, were ya?”

“I _promise_ I’m not bringing you out here to kill you,” Cordelia mocked, “But only because we have later plans.”

Catching the hint of arousal lacing her tone, Misty simply replied, “Yeah, I’ve been thinking about that all day. I think it’ll live up to the hype.” She sounded quite sure of herself, like the plans she’d made in her head would be mind blowing. Literally.

“I have no doubt.”

Turning down a small dirt path, Cordelia drove them to a small parking lot with a sign that boasted that they had arrived at the ‘New Orleans Global Wildlife Center.’

Suddenly filled with nerves she couldn’t shake, Cordelia’s hands trembled as she turned her car off and glanced over at Misty, who hadn’t spoken a word since turning down the dirt road. “We don’t have to stay here, I just thought you’d enjoy a wildlife nature tour. There’s an indoor part you can walk through and I called and booked a private tour where we get to feed giraffes. I know it’s not romantic or even particularly fun but you spend so much time taking care of the cats I thought you’d enjoy just looking at other animals for a change, so-” Her voice broke off, sounding small and meek.

Hysterics caused her to spill all of this without pausing to take a single breath, and after the rambling she went silent to focus on warding off any other nervous ventures.

Misty was unusually quiet, her face turned towards the field beyond where antelope and zebras were grazing. In a timid voice, Cordelia mumbled out, “It’s okay, I can take us home.” As she went to put her key back in the ignition, Misty darted her hand out to grasp Cordelia’s wrist and end the movement. Turning to look at her, Cordelia was surprised to see tears forming in the corner of Misty’s eyes.

“Misty?”

“Ah shit, these?” she huffed out a laugh and wiped at the tears with the back of her palm. “It’s only because no one’s ever done anythin’ like this for me. People usually just take me to the movies and dinner,” she sniffled and smiled despite the tears.

“ _Oh_ ,” Cordelia breathed, lightheaded and slightly more than relieved, “So you like it?”

An enthusiastic nod. “Can we go in?”

Moments later they were strolling up the path to the building, Misty bounding several yards ahead. Too excited to slow herself down, she turned and yelled back, “Come on, Cordelia. The giraffes won’t feed themselves.” Like a child walking into a store filled to the brim with candy and toys, Misty was giddy with excitement and unable to even consider stifling it. Picking up the pace, Cordelia caught up and slipped her arm around Misty’s elbow.

Misty turned her head and kissed Cordelia, a sweet kiss that spoke a thousand different sentiments. Lowering her voice, she whispered, “Thank you for bringing me here. I don’t know what I did to deserve this.” As a delicate blush rose to her cheeks, Cordelia cupped one side and kissed the other.

“I’m just glad you like it.”

After situating their tickets for the later guided tour, Misty took Cordelia’s hand and tugged her towards a room labeled ‘Reptiles.’ At Cordelia’s tentative hesitation, Misty pulled harder and giggled, “Don’t tell me you’re afraid of some lil baby lizards.”

“I have a feeling there’s nothing ‘little’ about the animals in there, Mist.”

“Guess we’ll just have to see then, chicken. Don’t be a big baby,” she teased. At Misty’s insistence, Cordelia allowed herself to be pulled into the room.

When Misty let out a shrill gasp, Cordelia seized up, ready to run at the drop of a hat at whatever caused the noise. “Delia, _look_ at him. He’s so cute!” Peeking over the railing at what was in the enclosure, Cordelia was met face to face with an alligator that looked like he’d seen some shit in his lifetime.

As she jumped back, Misty ignored her and chattered on excitedly, reading the sign posted next to his enclosure. “His name is Henry and he was rescued from poachers a few miles down the road. He’s been here for a few months and he’s almost ready to be let back home. Gosh, I just wanna pet his cute lil head.”

“That’s nice. I’m sure Henry’s a lovely alligator but I’m not too keen on being anywhere near him when he gets released.”

When she looked back up at Misty, she was met with electrifying eye contact. Laugh lines prominent, Misty scrunched her eyes up and shook her head slowly. “Sorry, you just look so good today I can’t keep my eyes off ya. Now my hands,” she leaned in to whisper, “are the same story. But that’s for later. Can’t be giving the animals a free show.” She jabbed a thumb towards Henry, her voice light with humor.

Pulling back, she took great pride in Cordelia’s closed eyes and pained expression. “You’re truly an enigma to me, Misty Day.”

Misty merely shrugged and grasped Cordelia’s hand once again to drag her wherever she saw fit. They stopped in the sea creature exhibit next, where Misty bonded with some sea turtles and Cordelia had a face-off with an aggressive looking tiger shark.

Next was the rain forest room, where Misty snapped photos of the toucans and scarlet macaw birds that ruffled their feathers in Cordelia’s direction like they knew she hated flying animals. Misty, like she’d been doing, stopped to read the posted sign next to the cages. At the beautifully colored macaw, Misty read it aloud as Cordelia hid behind her shoulder.

“Baby, look. Her name is Monicaw Geller. Shit, that’s funny,” she laughed to herself. “She was rescued from a pet store illegally selling exotic birds and has been here half a year while they wait to ship her home.”

“Where’s home for her? A New York apartment with five other friends?”

“It’s a good thing you’re cute because you wouldn’t cut it as a comedian,” Misty threw her an exasperated sigh as if Cordelia’s joke pained her to hear. Biting her bottom lip, she couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled out at the impish grin on Cordelia’s face. Lacing their fingers back together, they finished out the exhibit and found themselves back outside in the golden sunlight.

“What time is our last tour?” Misty was busy snapping photos of all the animals in the field off to their side, sighing in content every so often. Every soft sigh that slipped from her lips reminded Cordelia that she’d made the best possible choice bringing her here.

Unwillingly wrenching her eyes away from Misty’s figure, she checked her watch and answered, “Right about now-"

As if summoned, a Jeep pulled up and an older man jumped out to greet them.

“Hey, y’all! You’re the folks for our giraffe tour? Perfect time for it,” he grinned. “They’re always active during sunset. Come on in.”

Misty excitedly climbed in the Jeep, holding her hand out for Cordelia to squish beside her. “It’s so beautiful out here,” she spoke out loud to no one in particular.

After some small talk and a short ride out past the outdoor enclosures, the man driving them, who had introduced himself as Allen, pulled them up to a gate where he punched a code into the keypad. The gate slowly creaked open as he inched their car through, where Misty and Cordelia both gasped at what lied beyond.

In a large field meant to imitate the rolling African plains, they were delighted to see dozens of giraffes roaming freely and grazing amongst the leaves of trees. “Holy shit,” Misty exhaled 

“Holy shit, indeed,” Allen repeated, “I never get tired of showin’ people this. A real hidden gem, huh? No one knows a little place in the middle of New Orleans would be housing these beauties.”

“I have no idea places like this even existed,” Misty was distracted, exhilarated at the sight, “Then my girl brought me here and I’m at a loss for words honestly.”

At ‘my girl’ Cordelia started thrumming with heart palpitations that threatened to send her into an attack. At least she’d be happy to go out this way.

“Yeah, they’ll do that to ya,” Allen chuckled. “How long have y’all been together?” He glanced in the rear view mirror at their subdued displays of affection; Cordelia’s arm slung around Misty’s shoulder and playing with the ends of her hair, Misty clutching Cordelia’s hand and continuously running a thumb over it.

Cordelia glanced at Misty and fondly smiled. “Only a few days,” she admitted. Allen had a healing presence about him that allowed her to feel ease in discussing the most personal extension of her heart.

Allen whistled under his breath, low and drawn out. “I woulda thought y’all have been in love for years, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“Yeah,” Misty replied in passing before Cordelia could get a chance to, “Sometimes it feels that way.”

Then they were parking, Allen hopping out quickly to offer them a hand out of the vehicle. “Here we are, ladies. If you stand up on the deck over there, the giraffes will come right on over. They like their heads scratched and prefer lettuce to the fruits we have up there, but with a little coaxing you can get them eat it all.”

“Wait,” Cordelia balked, “We’ll be up there by ourselves?”

Allen chuckled. “We always have one nervous Nancy. Yes, I’ll be right here if ya need me. But your lil miss over here seems pretty level headed, I’m sure she’ll take good care of you.”

“Yeah, nervous Nancy, let’s go,” Misty poked Cordelia in the stomach and she tentatively climbed the stairs to the patio overlooking the plains. Once they reached the top, Cordelia sucked in a breath at the sun slowly slipping down the sky in a blazing light of color and warmth. There hadn’t ever been a more perfect moment in time, she thought fleetingly. She couldn’t tell which was more breathtaking, the scenery or Misty’s beauty.

(It was Misty.)

When one of the giraffes gracefully strolled over to the deck, his head was near eye level with Cordelia. Tentatively, she reached out and grazed his forehead, yelping when he knocked into the touch. From behind, she could hear Misty and Allen making slight fun of her by trying to hold in their peals of laughter. Bucking up, she reached for a large leaf of lettuce, holding it with up bated breath.

As the giraffe, or Freddie as Allen called him, started chomping on the lettuce, Cordelia reached up once more to pat his head. This time she didn’t jump back or run into the safety of Misty’s arms, merely gasping softly at the once in a lifetime opportunity she’d granted herself.

“Freddie,” she cooed, looking into his big round eyes, “Hi, beautiful. Mist, look. He likes me.”

“You’re damn right he does,” she joked, “I was figuring out how I’d take him down if he didn’t.”

Cordelia shoved her shoulder and moved to the side so Misty could feed the other giraffes that had noticed their presence. After Misty had fed and talked very seriously to each of the five giants that meandered over, Cordelia pulled out her phone to snap some photos of it. If her memory were to ever fail her, she wanted to remember this: the goosebumps raised along Misty’s arms in the slight chill of the sun going down, her body outstretched to scratch the giraffes neck, and the sweet smile on her face that spoke a thousand different words for happiness.

Misty turned and tugged a handful of Cordelia’s shirt between fingers, effectively closing any gap between them. Her eyes twinkled and shone as she leaned in to whisper, “This might just be the best day of my whole damn life. I never wanna remember anything except for this. Being here with you.”

 _Oh_.

Cordelia wracked her brain for a reasonable response to what was quite possibly the best compliment she’d ever received. Nothing came out except for a meager, “That makes me so inexplicably happy.” She hoped Misty could see that it was highly likely that she was falling in love this very instant. Which she seemed to, if kissing Cordelia was any indication that she felt it too.

After a few moments, Misty pulled apart, hands still clutching Cordelia’s shirt. “Can we go home now? I think I’m ready to repay you for this.”

“God, yeah,” Cordelia breathed, already near insanity from the arousal that appeared once again at what the near future held. Taking Misty’s hand and refusing to drop it, they said goodbye to the grazing giants that towered over the world. Down the stairs and back into the Jeep, Misty jumped in and exclaimed, “Allen, that was the coolest shit I have ever seen. Thanks for bringing us out here.”

“Ah, it’s my pleasure, ladies. I sure hope they lived up to the hype. Sometimes they like to hide out, but every once in a while they’ll really show ya how graceful they are.”

“How did this tiny wildlife center come to take them in?” Cordelia shivered as she scooted closer to Misty’s warmth. As the sun had nearly disappeared from the horizon, the chill in the air gave her the perfect opportunity to press every available inch of skin up to Misty. Not that she was complaining, as she clutched at Cordelia and allowed her warmth to be taken advantage of.

“It’s quite sad, actually. This herd was being shipped here from Africa to be hunted for sport, but was intercepted when it got here by our workers. We had the space, so they’ll be here until they can be shipped back home.”

Humming her reply to Allen, Cordelia closed her eyes and relished in the inexplicable happiness that had come with this day. By the time she opened them back up, they were back in the main building where they’d parked. “Allen, it was real nice to meet ya,” Misty chattered with him for a moment, “I’m sure we’ll be back.”

Thanking Allen herself, Cordelia waved to him and held the door, waiting while Misty climbed into the passenger side. As she herself crawled in, she was taken off guard by Misty slamming her lips on Cordelia’s.

“Oh,” Cordelia gasped, “ _Hi_.”

“Delia, take me home. I have so many plans to thank you for this perfect day. My house is closer, we can go there.”

And who was Cordelia to deny her that?

Pulling up to a small rancher style home, Cordelia barely had any time to compliment Misty on her flower garden lining the pathway before she was corralled inside and pushed back against a door for the second time that day.

Misty hooked her thumbs into the waistband of Cordelia’s jeans, insisting their hips together until the latter was releasing tiny gasps and moans into Misty’s mouth. As time went on, their need for each other grew and grew until it exploded into a low hum and Cordelia wasn’t responsible for what happened next.

Managing to release her grip on the back of Misty’s neck, she twisted a handful of fabric from Misty’s dress up, exposing the lower half of her torso. Misty hissed out at the biting cool air hitting her legs, pressing herself into Cordelia’s embrace once more. Cordelia decided not to take her sweet time, kicking Misty’s legs apart so she could arch forward and straddle a still-clothed thigh.

“ _Fuck_.” They could both feel the wetness that seeped through Misty’s underwear and onto Cordelia’s leg as she ground down upon the thigh. Dizzy, titillated, overwhelmed, and everything in between, Misty connected their lips once more to slip her tongue into Cordelia’s mouth and kiss her like an obscene pornographic still. Moaning into the open mouthed kiss, Misty continued rhythmically rubbing herself over and over until she seemed to have a brief moment of clarity and slipped off.

Wiping her wet bottom lip with a thumb, she chastised, “You gotta stop doin’ that, or this’ll be over before it even started.”

“Doing what,” Cordelia feigned innocence and Misty planned to fuck the smirk right off her face, “I’m just standing here.” At Misty’s pensive look, she relented with a nod, “Take me to bed.”

Misty went to lead Cordelia to her bedroom when the latter stopped mid-stride, engrossed in something on her-

Cordelia glanced up, her tone dripping with arousal much like herself, “You got my pant leg all wet.”

“Guess we’ll just have to take them off and see what other parts of ya I can get wet,” Misty bit back a smug grin, tugging at Cordelia once more until they finally, _finally_ made it to her bedroom.

Standing face to face, Cordelia let Misty gently unhook her belt, pull her shirt off, and silently ask for permission to unbutton her jeans. Nodding once, taking note of how delicately Misty handled this process, she surveyed the room beyond her peripheral. Fairy lights were strung along her headboard, rivaling the permanent twinkle in Misty’s eyes. On the walls were vintage posters and the occasional Polaroid of her and a combination of Queenie and Zoe. What really caught Cordelia’s eye, however, was the floor to ceiling bookshelf that held a collection of books that could put libraries out of circuit.

Misty seemed embarrassed Cordelia noticed the wall of books. Standing up from where she’d helped Cordelia kick her pants off, she mumbled, “I just like to read sometimes, ya know? I got lonely here.” Images of Misty curled up in bed with tea in one hand and a book in the other made Cordelia’s chest ache. She may not have known Misty then, but the mere fact that she even got lonely made her want to promise to stick around for next thousand years so it never happened again.

“No,” Cordelia took her cheeks between hands, “I love it. I think it’s sexy.”

“It’s sexy that you think it’s sexy.”

Kissing Misty, Cordelia toyed with the hem of her dress again, pulling it halfway up and dropping it back down. At Misty’s fierce whimper and groan that launched itself from the back of her throat, Cordelia stopped playing games and tugged it over her head. Standing there in simple black panties and a white lace bralette, Cordelia had never - _never_ seen something so stunning in her life.

“My God,” her nostrils flared as she sucked in a breath, “I've never seen anything so perfect.”

Misty knitted her eyebrows together and released a dry snort. “You don’t see yourself in a mirror every morning?”

All the nervous tension Cordelia had been building dissipated at the joke. They’d been here, less than a day ago, but nothing in Cordelia’s recent memories could have predicted how insanely arousing it was to be here again. Deciding she was ready to create new memories tonight, she gently pushed Misty down on her unmade bed. As she fell back, bouncing slightly, Cordelia cupped between her legs in a swift movement that evoked a choking gasp.

“Oh, you’ll pay for _that_.”

Cordelia merely continued to tease, pressing further into the scrap of fabric as Misty spread her thighs apart. At her whining pleas that made Cordelia’s head swim, she dug her thumbs into the waistband of panties and slung them down lean legs. When her thighs were pressed apart once more, the glistening wetness made her mouth go dry. Free of restriction, Cordelia’s touch returned, this time with more ferocity.

Misty would have gone mad with desire if Cordelia’s touch didn’t seem so worshipful, so incredibly soft and cherishing. It sucked every breath of air from her lungs, even more so when the touch was pulled away and Cordelia’s fingers were placed inside her mouth. Clutching at the wrist that was at chin level, Misty licked between the fingers to savor every last drop of herself that Cordelia had so graciously given her.

“Mm,” she released the grip, slipping her tongue out to taste the traces on her lip as Cordelia watched on with a lustful look in her eye.

Flushed and needy, unwilling to spend another second without her mouth in between Misty’s legs, Cordelia yanked her hips further down on the bed. Pressing each thigh apart with the delicacy of touching a butterfly's wings, she stopped to look up at the woman above.

“Is this okay?”

“Things have never felt more right.”

_Isn’t that the truth._

Cordelia took her time indulging her own eager desires, seeing whatever low noises she could draw out from Misty. It’s maddening, almost, these sweet sounds released from between her lips as Cordelia drug her mouth over the inside of her thigh.

She sighed, arching her back and pleading, “Cordelia, _please_. Please.”

A split second later, Cordelia obeyed her pleas, dropping down to press her tongue over her clit in a show of clemency. At the contact, Misty’s moan shattered all semblance of leisurely pace. Now starving, hungry for it, Cordelia licked a slick line up the length of her as she reached up to press her hips down flat on the bed.

Misty’s voice started faltering and wavering as she choked out a new series of low groans, and Cordelia swore she had never heard such a beautiful symphony of sounds. She took Misty’s clit between lips and sucked on it roughly, savoring the taste and accompanying gasp it brought forth. Meandering downwards, Cordelia nudged the tip of her nose across the wet bundle of nerves, slipping her tongue inside Misty to get the full experience. At the welcomed intrusion, Misty’s fists took handfuls of bedsheets on either side, tossing her head back and moaning. After a moment she managed to prop herself up on elbows, brushing the lock of hair that fell in Cordelia’s face so there were no barriers between their eye contact.

“You look so beautiful like this.” Her voice was laced with adoration, love, and sinful desire.

Cordelia hummed her reply, the vibrations too intense for Misty to hold herself up anymore.

This entire exchange should feel rushed considering the circumstances of their tumultuous meeting, but it didn’t. Not in the slightest, because Cordelia felt like this had been a long time coming. Not this exact scenario; her lips on Misty’s clit, two fingers teasing a nipple, the taste of Misty on her tongue. But just being here. With her. It felt natural, like a warm blanket had wrapped itself gently over her soul and guided her home. Misty felt like home, freedom, and every other warm feeling in between.

It pushed Cordelia to an animalistic pace, one hand leaving Misty’s hip to slip two fingers inside slick walls. Thrusting them slowly, then quicker as she felt Misty begin trembling, Cordelia deviously suctioned her mouth back on her clit. Misty ground down, once, twice, then-

She came in Cordelia’s mouth with her eyes squeezed shut and a frozen look on her face that would be construed as painful if they were anywhere but here. The guttural moan that followed as she spasmed in the aftershocks was indeed a perfect incentive for Cordelia.

Bringing her down slowly with tentative licks, Cordelia let Misty ride out the waves on her tongue. Once she’d gained mobility of her limbs again, the younger blonde pulled Cordelia up and into her embrace. Crawling up and dropping into waiting arms, Cordelia kissed her neck and sighed out.

With a sated, heavy sigh, Misty shifted them into a spooning position. “Can we _just_ \- I wanna do something.”

“What, cuddle?” Cordelia’s arousal had settled into a low hum, and she thought it could wait just for a moment as Misty held her like this.

“ _No_ ,” Misty licked the shell of her ear.

Cordelia watched as her hand traipsed coyly over her stomach and into her panties. “I want you to watch yourself come. And I want you to use my hand to do it.”

She’d come to realize Misty was surprisingly imaginative in bed, placing her hand atop her’s and nodding haphazardly. She always believed you could tell a lot about someone by their hands, and Misty’s were no different. The porcelain skin of Misty’s hand looked fragile, but Cordelia knew with the way it held her that it was anything but. Misty was strong and eager to please, her request nothing short of achievable.

There were so many words Cordelia wanted to say, all of them mixed with unabashed love, but she told herself instead to focus on the task Misty had requested. She had asked for this position so sweetly and Cordelia wasn’t in the business of denying her anything.

Her own hand lead Misty’s up to the swell of her breasts, showing her fingers how to tease just light enough to where she couldn’t speak. Bucking back, she nodded violently as Misty whispered in her ear, “Good?”

She answered her own question, “Good.” Misty was stretched out behind Cordelia, sounding more and more proud of herself by the minute. As her and Cordelia’s conjoined touch continued to tease and totter, the former’s arousal grew until it exploded and burned every inch of skin like lava covering a city below.

With her direction, Misty’s fingers had no trouble finding her clit. They swirled it together, the back of Cordelia’s head banging into Misty’s throat as she tossed it back. Soon the wet noises filled Misty’s small bedroom, harmonizing in sync with the moans tumbling from Cordelia’s mouth.

It didn’t take long, especially not with the way Misty was murmuring in her ear how long she’d waited for this, how badly she wanted to hear her come, how she couldn’t wait to taste Cordelia on her fingertips.

She came with an elongated sigh and single utterance of Misty’s name.

With Misty humming softly in her ear, Cordelia slowly came down off her high; legs trembling and heart pounding. Parts of her had been awakened like she was an ancient artifact and Misty had dug her up.

She could feel Misty’s grin on her neck, her calming kiss that soothed the resounding jerky movements. She got her wish of tasting Cordelia, bringing both their hands up to stick their wet fingers in her mouth. “I feel like I’ve been waitin’ years for that,” she whispered, still holding Cordelia flush against her chest.

She hoped Misty would consider waiting a couple more if that was the pay out.

“It’s never been like that - with anybody.”

Misty knew what she meant, how Cordelia needed her to realize Hank had never treated her like that; in bed or otherwise. She pressed a soft kiss on Cordelia’s shoulder and softly scooted her so that they were face to face.

“Is it bad that makes me a little smug?”

“No,” Cordelia sighed, tucking a lock of Misty’s hair behind her ear, “Not at all. Everything is different with you, it makes me feel so much.”

“Good feelings?”

“The best kind.”

If Misty was the dream Cordelia conjured up somewhere in the back of her brain, she never wanted to wake up from it. If she was the fire that burned anything and everything in its path, Cordelia would never let it go out. And if she was the air, Cordelia didn’t want to catch her breath.

After memorizing everything about this moment in time (Misty’s flushed cheeks, adorable lip bite and wild hair), Cordelia propped her head up and asked, “Did you really enjoy today?”

Misty’s eyes lit up and she went into a ramble about how perfect the day was, how much she enjoyed feeding the giraffes, how cute Cordelia looked trying to hide her disdain of most animals larger than a cat. She punctuated her statement with a deep kiss that proved the truth in her words.

Buzzing with emotion saturated by happiness, Cordelia laced their fingers together and worried her bottom lip between teeth. She’d been wanting to ask Misty this for a few hours now, unsure of how to pose it. Taking a deep breath, she grew a backbone and asked, “Mist? What did you mean earlier when you told Allen it feels like we’ve been in love for years?”

Misty blinked once, twice, then a third time to gather her thoughts. “Well exactly that, Delia. I’m sorry, does that freak you out? I didn’t mean it like that I just mean like-"

“No,” Cordelia coddled her by clutching her chin and kissing her, “No, it doesn’t freak me out. I just want you to know it feels the same for me.”

She thanked every God that Misty seemed to be on the same level as her about their relationship, despite odd circumstances and barriers that had threatened to keep them apart. If it was anyone else but Misty, Cordelia would scoff and tell you there wasn’t any way she could be falling in love. But it _was_ Misty, and she was feeling things that had lain dormant in her previous relationship. She realized now that what she had with Hank wasn’t love, it was emotional manipulation that disguised itself so well she couldn’t tell the difference. But she knew it now.

And she was ready to rent out billboards and stand on top of buildings with a megaphone to let the world know.

To prove it, Cordelia tugged Misty up into a sitting position in her lap and cradled her waist. Brushing her lips at her neckline, Cordelia closed her eyes and clutched at Misty so tightly it probably left indents with her thumbs.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, too preoccupied with trying to wrap her mind around the immensity of what she was feeling, “I’m just so happy.”

Misty deftly slung her bralette off and tossed it behind her to worry about at a later time. “Yeah?” she questioned, a predatory glint in her eye, “Prove it.”

So she did.

Encouraging Misty to sit up even further, she angled her hand to slip between legs and brush up against the wetness still pooled there. At the sweet sigh that followed, Cordelia pressed forward and in.

Misty sunk down; welcoming the two fingers and began riding. Thrusting slowly at first, she picked up the pace when Cordelia tilted her chin up and smiled at her.

This part was the hardest for Cordelia, deciding on how long to drag out her teasing. As Misty rode her fingers, Cordelia murmured quiet words of encouragement in her ears, saying how beautiful she looked, how good she felt around Cordelia’s fingers, how she couldn’t wait to do this every morning, noon, and night.

It made Misty sigh, arching her back into a lovely curve that granted Cordelia access to take a nipple between teeth. Releasing it with a soft pop, Cordelia breathed warm air across it and marveled in the way it pebbled on her lips.

More whining noises.

Cordelia, thrumming again with her own desire, pulled her fingers out and began rolling Misty’s clit between them, sliding over it with quick movements. The pleasure was nearly too much for Misty as she slapped an open palm on Cordelia’s shoulder and panted, “Oh fuck. _Fuck, fuck fuck_ ,” And then-

“In the bedside table. Cordelia, please.” At Misty’s foul mouthed plea, Cordelia blindly fumbled for what Misty was asking for and placed it almost immediately. Bringing it back over, she switched the toy on; the low rumbles making Misty gasp out immediately without even being touched yet. Dragging it slowly between her legs to enjoy the tremble that came along with it, Cordelia teased her for a brief moment before slipping it inside.

Misty instantly began riding the toy Cordelia held control over, grasping her wrist in a silent attempt for Cordelia to continue drawing circles over her clit. At the dual pleasure inducing movements, Misty let go of her wrist and held onto the headboard behind them in an attempt to grasp onto some semblance of stability.

“Cordelia _this_ \- this is what I used when thought of you just about every hour,” she panted, “I’d imagine ya usin’ it on me like this.” Her eyes screwed shut and Cordelia found it in her to thrust even harder despite her own overwhelming arousal that threatened to end all fine motor skills. Turning it up to the top notch, they both held on to each other as hips bucked and teeth knocked together.

“Come on, baby. Come for me, please,” Cordelia was beside herself with unhinged power. Thrusting the vibrations deeper, harder, she gripped at Misty’s lower back to aid her in the rolling of hips.

At that undeniable request, Misty ground down and thrusted her hips incessantly once more on Cordelia’s hand before coming all over it. As she got the closest she’d ever felt to nirvana, her clutch on Cordelia’s shoulder tightened as she spasmed uncontrollably. Cordelia tenderly held her through it all, switching the toy off that was still inside slick walls. Removing her thumb first, she waited for the trembles and aftershocks to slow before carefully pulling the toy out.

Misty shivered, too boneless and satisfied to even make a disdained sound at the full feeling leaving her body. Cordelia was in awe; never having seen anything so incredibly raw and emotionally fulfilling in her thirty something odd years. In an instant that surprised her, Misty took the sticky toy from her and tilted it between her lips to clean it off before sliding it in the cusp of Cordelia’s legs.

Turning it to the highest level of vibration, Misty held it firmly at Cordelia’s clit, swirling it deviously until the latter came quickly on a broken sigh. Clenching her tense thigh muscles around Misty’s wrist, they both waited until the squeeze loosened.

Misty swiped at the lone tear that formed in the corner of Cordelia’s eye, kissing the sheen on her neck and murmuring, “Now we’re even.” Her legs were still wrapped around Cordelia’s waist, keeping them in this spine tingling limbo of reality and dream state that was conjured up from all their wildest fantasies.

If she wasn’t so _damn_ satisfied, Cordelia may have bit back with a snarky comment and promise for a ploy to get back at her later. Instead she shifted the two of them into their earlier position; face to face and chest to chest.

“You were right about being insatiable,” Misty cracked, her grin wide and elated. “You’re very good at that.”

“That?” Cordelia laughed breezily, “It’s just like riding a bike.”

“Something like that."

They held each other like that, pressed so close that no amount of chill in the air could penetrate their soft skin. Cordelia had never felt like this before, so warm and heartachingly content as if she’d been placed under a spell or hypnotized to ignore the previous years leading up to this. But then again, it was probably just Misty.

She was that light in the dark hole that had once been Cordelia’s life, extending her arm out for Cordelia to reach up and grab to be brought to safety. And that’s what being in Misty’s arms felt like; safety. Cordelia would chastise herself for wondering what the fuck she’d been doing for nine years instead of being _here_ , but she fleetingly reminded herself that it was necessary. Because without that inkling of distaste with Hank, she never would have made the jump and landed on two feet right here in Misty’s embrace.

Done suppressing her most heart pounding emotions, Cordelia shifted on the pillow she was sharing with Misty. “Is it bad that I think I love you?”

Blue eyes widened at the confession.

Cordelia watched the lump in her throat go down, following the journey with bated breath and awaiting the reply.

“Can you say that again so I know I heard it right?” Misty broke out into an infectious smile, the most beautiful thing Cordelia had ever laid eyes upon. The Mona Lisa, the Great Pyramids of Egypt and every single fucking diamond in the world had absolutely _nothing_ on what was in front of her.

Rolling her eyes in a dramatic show of events, Cordelia kissed her and whispered against lips, “I _said_ ,” another kiss, “I think I love you.”

“Well isn’t that fuckin’ _convenient_ , because I think I love you too, Cordelia Goode.”

Drunk on emotion and giddy with exponential levels of happiness, Cordelia closed her eyes and let herself be free for the first time in her life. She wasn’t a caged bird anymore, forced to spend day after day behind bars that were never opened for her to roam free. It was exquisite.

On a roll with confessions, she spoke in hushed tones, “I feel like I made you in a dream.”

“Cordelia?”

“Hm?”

“You’ve never been more wide awake.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> she's done!!! thank you for sticking with me on this lil journey, i'm truly quite sad it's over.
> 
> your comments + praise have not gone unnoticed, I'm truly very grateful for all of them:)
> 
> i'll be in mourning that this is over if you wanna come send me prompts to cheer me up @ moonmotels1 on twitter and moonmotels on tumblr.
> 
> thank you from the bottom of my teeny tiny heart.


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